We receive a lot of questions regarding pricing for our creative digital services, such as design, development and strategy. “How much does a website cost?” More often than not, the default answer is “it depends on the project”. This is the most common answer that any agency, company or freelancer will give. There are so many factors that go into developing a scope of work for a project and then figuring out the cost. At Avex, we do not have set prices for our web design, development, consulting or marketing services. Every project is very different. However, we wanted to be as transparent as possible with our future partners, and provide some answers to frequently asked questions, regarding pricing, types of projects and the size of projects we love to take on.

If you do not see answers to your questions below, please feel free to shoot us a note or give us a call.

What are Avex’s rates?

We do not have set rates because we charge on a per project basis. Some of the projects we take on will fall into a general range, but this will vary depending on the scope of work, deliverables and timeline.

An average project budget can be in the $1,500 – $20,000. For larger scale projects, budgets will range between $25,000 – $500,000+. Before we can provide an estimate and approach to your project, we ask a lot of questions and learn as much as possible about your business.

Contact us and we’ll answer all of your questions. 

What type of projects does Avex take on?

There is no project too small (or too large) for us. We take on the projects we love working on and are passionate about. We also don’t want to tackle a project that we cannot lend value to. That being said, most of our projects include: UX Design, Interaction Design, Web Development, Web Design, Mobile App Design and Development, Digital Strategy, Digital Marketing, Content Creation, Videography, Photography, WordPress CMS and eCommerce.

How does Avex bill their partners?

All of our projects are quoted on a per-project basis. We do not bill hourly for project work. The only time we do bill hourly is for minor updates outside the scope of work, or for on-going updates and support. However, we do offer month to month retainer billing.

Our projects are normally broken up into 3-4 billing cycles over the course of the project. An example of this would be 30% / 30% / 30%/ 10% or 50%/50%. This will depend on the timeline and scope of work.

What are the hidden fees?

There are no hidden fees. We are upfront about our payment and do not bill our clients beyond our agreed upon budget, unless there is a request made outside of the scope of work. However, there are certain 3rd party fees that may or may not come along with creating a new digital project, such as: hosting, domain registration, stock photo licensing, font licensing or other 3rd party services. We always do our best to plan ahead and research these fees for you ahead of time.

Does Avex work with Start-ups?

Absolutely! We love working with start-ups and new brands. Building a company from the ground up is exactly the type of projects we LOVE to work on. Yes, we do work with many major brands and large global agencies, but we also partner with a lot of startups and small businesses.

Contact us and tell us about your start-ups.

This article will be updated with additional questions and answers. If you do not see answers to your questions above, please feel free to shoot us a note or give us a call.

We look forward to partnering with you.

John // Avex

An Honest Discussion About Our Pricing
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Although its pay-per-click social advertising platform is relatively new, Facebook is quickly gaining ground on Google as a premier platform for marketers who want to reach new customers. But unfortunately, even though lots of business owners understand that Facebook Ads are a big opportunity, they aren’t sure how to get started.

Of course, you can find the initial steps needed to set up a Facebook Ads account on hundreds of different places on the web. What we want to share with you today are a handful of tips you can use to get more out of the medium and start boosting your company’s revenue in a matter of hours…

Know Your Audience

Social advertising is all about demographics. While traditional search PPC (like Google AdWords) focuses on reaching buyers at the right time, Facebook ads succeed because they are aimed at the right type of buyer. So, it’s important to target the right people, based on demographics and interests, if you want to see a positive ROI.

Design the Right Visual

Unlike search advertising, Facebook campaigns don’t give you the chance to show your ads to customers at the perfect time. So, your challenge is to use the right visuals that grab attention at a glance. Faces, logos, illustrations, and important keywords can all be used to draw buyers in, even if they weren’t thinking about your product or service beforehand.

Create a Conversion Funnel

Your Facebook ads could take buyers in a lot of different directions. Often, pointing them to a page within your profile – rather than your external website – can be the best solution. For one thing, that doesn’t require them to leave Facebook. And for another, they can share your page with friends, family, and colleagues if they like what they see.

Set Your Bids Conservatively

Although advertising rates on Facebook are generally much lower than the ones you’d expect to see on Google or the other search engines, it’s a good idea to test any new platform before committing a big portion of your budget to the job.

Watch, Study, and Adjust

Even in the world of social media, some rules of search advertising still apply. To make the most of your Facebook campaigns, take care in setting them up, and then study the results so you can know when to expand, keep your eyes open for new opportunities, and cut off ads or markets that aren’t profitable.

Because Facebook’s advertising platform is still relatively new, competition isn’t nearly as intense as it is on Google. That means you could be able to find new fans, new sales, and better margins, all for a lot less than you expect. Give it a try today, or contact Avex Designs to see how we can help!

Using Facebook Ads to Boost Revenue
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Now that we’re firmly into November and the holiday season is almost upon us, business owners and marketers are beginning to turn their attention to the future. Specifically, many are wondering whether they are properly prepared for the internet marketing trends that will dominate 2017 and beyond.

Of course, no one has a crystal ball that will allow them to predict exactly what internet marketing trends will be popular in the coming months and years, but here are five  Internet Marketing Trends that are already picking up steam and seem bound to make an even bigger impact in the near future…

#1 Local and Niche Search Engine Optimization

The web is getting more crowded, and searchers are becoming more demanding. As a result, Google and the other search engines are taking steps to give users exactly what they want with every query, rather than sticking to generalized formulas and algorithms. Your job as a marketer is to make it clear exactly whom your company can help, both in terms of geography and market niche.

#2 Mobile-First Web Design and Marketing

You have probably heard that mobile smart phone and tablet users already make up a majority of web traffic. What you may not realize is that they could end up representing two-thirds of your website visitors within the next couple of years. Knowing that, marketers are adopting a mobile-first approach to design and campaign management. If the bulk of your visits are coming from customers who are on the go, why not give them exactly what they want from your website?

#3 Accelerated Mobile Page Enabled Content

This is related to mobile-first web design, but in a different way. By optimizing the HTML code behind blog posts and other pieces of content to help it load more quickly on smaller screens, you can boost your ranking on Google’s newsfeed, not to mention Facebook. The changes mainly involve the way forms, photos, and comments are handled. A professional web design team can help you implement them quickly and inexpensively.

#4 Premium Hosting and SSL

Dollar for dollar, it’s hard to think of a better improvement you can make to your website than upgraded web hosting. By spending a little more each month, you can get faster page loading times, automatic backups, and better protection from thieves and hackers. Plus, premium hosting comes with SSL capability, which was recently indicated as a search signal by Google’s engineers (meaning secure websites can rank more highly in the search listings).

#5 A Tighter Focus on Conversions and ROI

It used to be that a lot of companies were simply content to have a good website. Now more than ever, though, business owners and executives are trying to figure out what kinds of returns they are getting from the investments they are making in Internet marketing (or in some cases, the returns they should be getting). Few companies have extra money to throw around, so it only makes sense to start taking a deeper dive into your web analytics to see whether you’re actually getting the kind of ROI you deserve.

If your website and Internet marketing plan aren’t already optimized for the changes that are going to take place in 2017 and beyond, now is the perfect time to speak with our team and see how we can help. With one simple meeting, you could get detailed advice that’s specific to your business. Contact us today to set a time to talk!

5 Internet Marketing Trends in 2017
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4 Tips To Launch A Fashion Brand

Devising a brand strategy for any kind of business can be difficult, but in the world of fashion there are additional challenges. For one thing, trends change quickly. And for another, fashion tends to be subjective, meaning that one person can love a look or product while another might not. Add in the intense competitive pressures that exist between designers and retailers, and it’s easy to see why so many in the clothing, style, and accessory business struggle to stitch together a winning formula. How can you avoid common missteps when you launch a fashion brand? Here are 4 quick and easy tips you can follow…

1.  Build A Brand That’s Unique, But Not Bizarre

Sometimes, the pressure to be “different” leads fashion entrepreneurs to embrace some truly strange designs and ideas. There’s a lot to be said for standing out, but go too far and your brand might become a running joke. The fashion industry can be cruel, from critics on down to actual customers, so exercise a bit of caution when pushing the envelope to its limits, especially when you first launch a fashion brand. 

2. Put Fashion In The Right Context

What’s “fashionable” or “trendy” to one person might seem “over-the-top” or “ho-hum” to another. That’s obvious when you consider styles amongst different demographics, age groups, or locations. Knowing that, it’s up to you to put your brand in the right context so it stands out for the right reasons. You have to know who your buyers are and what they think is interesting, or you’ll have a hard time generating any traction.

3. Find The Right Social Influencers

As anyone in the fashion industry will already know, there are a small handful of people who set the trends – most others simply follow along. That tendency has only accelerated in the age of social media, where having the right individuals sport your styles can help you grow your brand and market in a very fast way. Identify the men and women that your customers look up to, and see if you can engage them directly. They’ll help spread the word about your brand in a way that no amount of advertising never could.

4. Find A Branding Partner Who Shares Your Vision

No matter how creative, informed, and insightful you are, you might struggle to develop a branding strategy and make sure it’s reinforced again and again. That’s where businesses like ours come into play. With extensive brand management experience, and a history of working together with partners in the fashion industry, we know what it takes to launch a fashion brand, make the right impressions day after day, and how to turn those impressions into real-world results.

The world of fashion is a demanding one, but if you can make a name for yourself and build an enduring brand, you can generate profits and change the way others see themselves at the same time. Why not add something special to the world around you and share your brand with a whole new audience? It only takes a phone call to meet with our team and get started, so don’t delay!

4 Tips To Launch A Fashion Brand
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For online retailers, providing a solid ecommerce user experience isn’t just a preference or a good idea – it’s an absolute necessity. After all, if shoppers don’t like your website, they’ll take their time and money elsewhere without ever telling you why.

There is an art and science to making things easy for buyers, of course, but today we want to share 10 tried-and-true tips you can use to improve the usability of your online store and provide a better ecommerce user experience…

#1 Find A Short, Descriptive Domain

You want the name of your website to be easy to find, share, and remember. Brief and descriptive domain names are highly preferable to longer or abstract ones. It may even be worth it in the long run to pay for a premium domain, if necessary.

#2 Make Good Use Of White Space

No one likes a cluttered web page, especially when they’re trying to find the perfect product. Remember that, and make your static and product pages easy on your customer’s eyes by separating elements cleanly, this will help provide a much better ecommerce user experience.

#3 Spring For Premium Hosting

If your website loads slowly – or worse, goes off-line when buyers are trying to login – you’re going to lose sales before people ever see what you have to offer. The small amount it costs to upgrade your hosting ends up providing great value for your money.

#4 Align Your Ads And Landing Pages

If a potential customer clicks on an ad for one type of product, don’t let them end up on a generic landing page, or one that advertises something else altogether. Create an intuitive ecommerce user experience for them to get what they’re looking for in as few clicks as possible by sending them straight to what they want.

#5 Use Higher Quality Product Photos

High-quality product images that can be expanded let customers check out colors, details, and even things like sizing or context. Each of those makes your product pages more useful, and also decreases the odds you’ll have to deal with unhappy buyers or returned items later.

#6 Integrate Strong Search Features

When someone arrives at your online store, they may not see the exact item they are looking for immediately. But, if you use lots of descriptive keywords, and make sure search options are displayed prominently, it shouldn’t take them more than a moment to get to the right page.

#7 Recommend Products To Customers

When you group products and make appropriate recommendations based on viewing or shopping history, you don’t just increase buyer spending – you also make things more convenient for your customers. That’s a win-win situation for both of you.

#8 Make Reviews A Prominent Part Of Your Online Store

Online customers love authentic reviews from other people like themselves. So, encourage existing customers to share their feedback, and then make their honest reviews a prominent part of every product page.

#9 Close Off Dead Ends Completely

Some ecommerce website owners forget to take away pages for products they no longer offer, or that have been out of stock for a long time. That’s a bad idea, because these “dead ends” annoy buyers and practically send them straight to the competition.

#10 Watch Your Analytics Closely

Over time, your web analytics package will tell you how visitors are coming to your website, what they’re looking for, and (just as importantly) when and where they are leaving your pages. You can use these insights to give them more of what they want in your online store.

Need help building an online store that customers love while boosting your bottom line at the same time? Talk to our team of talented designers today and see how we can help you build a better ecommerce user experience. 

10 Tips For Better Ecommerce User Experience
Prachi Garg

When you think of social networking, the first things that come to mind are cat videos and political arguments. However, these sites are actually great places to make money. The photo sharing site Instagram in particular has phenomenal potential for turning a profit. Read on to learn how to make money with Instagram.

How To Make Money With Instagram

Affiliate Marketing

The idea of affiliate marketing isn’t new. Using Instagram for affiliate marketing is a new twist, though.

Here’s how affiliate marketing works: you promote a product and you get paid when the company makes a sale. How do you do affiliate marketing on Instagram? Create an agreement with vendors. Take pictures with products and include a link so your followers can purchase them (and so that you can get credit for the sale).

Sell Your Own Products

You don’t have to market someone else’s products in order to make money with Instagram. If you’ve got your own merchandise (especially if it photographs well), Instagram is an excellent selling platform.

Selling your own products is even easier than selling someone else’s. Snap a photo of it, include a link, and add the right hashtags to attract followers (and shoppers).

Become a Brand Ambassador

A brand ambassador serves as a company’s representative, often online. Brand ambassadors promote a firm’s products or services to their followers. They give the brand a human face, and make it more appealing for people to buy from that business.

Becoming a brand ambassador starts by having an authentic, passionate social media presence and many followers. Generally, brands approach you with the offer to represent them on sites such as Instagram, although in some cases, you can reach out to companies you would love to work with and ask if you’re a good fit to be their brand ambassador.

Sign up for Sponsored Posts to Your Profile

This idea is an extension of being a brand ambassador. You don’t have to generate the content, though. The brand does that. All you do is share it and you can make money with Instagram this way. 

There are a few apps that enable you to do this: Takumi, Snapfluence, and InstaBrand. Bear in mind that you need over 1,000 followers to use these apps, though.

Sell Your Photos

You might not be the next Ansel Adams, but you may have many admirers who would be willing to fork over cold, hard cash for your shots.

There are a number of apps from which you can earn money from the smartphone shots you take. All of the apps are free, and you can use them for either iOS or Android devices.

Earning money from Instagram is akin to taking the perfect selfie; it requires patience and perseverance. Unlike the perfect selfie, though, to make money with Instagram you will need to have many followers that believe you’re influential. It demands convincing people that your voice is worth listening to, and you’ve got something important to say. If that describes you, maybe you can be rich and famous. 

How to Make Money with Instagram
Prachi Garg

We’ve served some top brand clients like HBO, Google and USA Network, providing custom websites, e-commerce solutions, user experience design and much more. Not only do our clients love us, but we’ve recently received some additional third-party recognition from B2B market research firm, Clutch.

Clutch, based in Washington D.C., finds and evaluates digital agencies around the globe based on a proprietary methodology that includes more than a dozen quantitative and qualitative factors. Recently, Clutch named us a Top Full-Service Digital Agency in New York City. That’s extremely gratifying—we know we have a lot of top-notch competition. As Clutch analyst Alexa Rosenstein said: “New York City has set an extremely high bar for quality and expertise, and these agencies are standouts in their field.”

As part of their evaluation, Clutch conducts in-depth interviews with agency clients to get first-hand, unvarnished input. We’re particularly gratified by what our clients had to say.

One client, a media production company, said:

“The functionality and quality I’ve received from Avex Designs are just phenomenal compared to the rates they charge. The attention to detail on Avex Design’s work has stood out to me.”

Another client, a shipping and packaging company, said:

“Avex Designs performed well in terms of schedule and budget, probably because of how involved their executive leadership was.”

In fact, our clients rated us a solid 5.0 (out of 5.0) based on our ability to deliver. Learn more on our Clutch profile.

Avex Recognized as Top Digital Agency
Prachi Garg

If you’re not familiar with Snapchat, you should be. This instant messaging app has over 150 million users worldwide as of September 2016. While many of its users are teenagers, Snapchat represents a rich market for companies. Read on to learn how to use Snapchat for business.

Team up with Influencers

Influencers are users with thousands of followers. These followers hold influencers in high esteem – they look to them for judgement on the latest trends. Every platform has influencers, and Snapchat is no exception.

Businesses can partner with influencers to the advantage of both. It’s simple: they need to identify influencers who are a good fit for their brands and reach out to them to create a relationship in which the influencer promotes the brand.

For example, an influencer in the field of fitness would be an excellent match for an athletic clothing brand. He or she would wear the brand in posts and highlight the benefits of products. This is an excellent was to use Snapchat for business.

Share Live Events 

Your customers or followers want to interact with your brand, but they might not be able to due to geographical constraints. Snapchat solves that problem.

The NBA provides businesses with a case study in how to use Snapchat. During the 2014 draft, the NBA launched its Snapchat account. Fans were able to interact with players, giving them an opportunity they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Distribute Promo Codes or Coupons 

Everyone loves a bargain. Snapchat users are no exceptions. The platform serves as a fantastic way to share promo codes or coupons.

New York’s 16 Handles ice cream shop did just that in 2013. It launched a promotion in which users snapped pictures of themselves eating ice cream in store. After posting the snap, 16 Handles would send them a coupon for ice cream. The only catch was that they had 10 seconds to show it to the cashier before the snap disappeared.

Humanize Your Brand

People tend to think of firms as faceless, soulless corporate entities. Even small businesses can fall prey to this stereotype. Snapchat helps companies change that.

Employees can share pictures of themselves going about their work day. These snaps show followers that the business employs real, live human beings. Customers are more likely to have a relationship with a firm that shows its humanity than one that doesn’t. Just remember to keep all snaps appropriate for younger audiences, as teens make up the largest user demographic of Snapchat.

Demonstrate Your Product

This is a wonderful technique if you’re releasing a new product or if you’re new in the market. A snap of a product demo can reach many potential customers.

At the beginning of 2016, Amazon did just that. It used Snapchat to demonstrate its Echo speakers with the female persona Alexa. On Amazon’s part, this was a terrific move, because there had been some confusion about Echo and Alexa.

Snapchat’s popularity and ease of use make it a robust marketing platform. Any business can take advantage of it to reach new and existing customers.

How to Use Snapchat for Business
avex

In 2016, mobile compatibility isn’t an add-on for your online store; it’s a basic requirement. If your shoppers can’t get a great experience when using a smartphone or tablet, they are likely to take their business to one of your competitors.

That’s leading lots of e-commerce entrepreneurs to develop mobile apps. Generally speaking, doing so is a great idea, and a good way to improve sales while making your online store accessible to a wider audience.

However, all mobile e-commerce apps aren’t alike, and you need yours to stand out for the right reasons. Here are a few Best Practices For Mobile E-commerce

Streamline the Interface

What works on a website doesn’t necessarily work on a smaller screen. In fact, it’s incredibly easy for a mobile e-commerce app to become crowded and confused, particularly for new users who aren’t familiar with it.

Make a concentrated effort to streamline your app and its interface. When in doubt, opt for clean designs and white space, with a single menu that guides shoppers from one area or product group to the next. While you certainly don’t want to take the functionality out of your app by oversimplifying it, there can be a bigger risk in making yours too complicated.

Make Navigation a Snap

The bigger your online store is, the more potential there is for customers to get “lost” within your mobile app. That’s particularly true if you have lots of product groups or categories, and buyers are being forced to get from one area to another by pointing, typing, or swiping.

Along with having a clean, streamlined interface, simplified navigation is a benefit that many designers overlook because they want to use as many features or visuals as possible. Ensure usability is your first priority, and then add extra steps or pieces to the app as needed afterward.

Give Customers Convenience

If it’s coded in the program correctly, data submitted through your mobile e-commerce app should be even more secure than it is in other areas of your online store. Knowing that, it only makes sense to give your customers every bit of convenience you can.

If it’s possible, give them the option of saving things like passwords, payment preferences, and shipping locations. That doesn’t just speed up orders; it makes it easier to keep buying from you than it does to visit a competitor. Why not create this kind of win-win situation for your customers?

Remember: Your mobile e-commerce app is an extension of your online store. That means it has to be just as powerful, streamlined, and competitive as your website is. Otherwise, customers will download another app and send their business elsewhere.

Best Practices For Mobile E-commerce
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We are very pleased to announce the official launch of the new Starter Black Label and Starter Active online experiences!

“A premium athletic brand established in 1971, Starter pioneered the fusion of sports clothing with popular culture by forging partnerships with the major pro basketball, football, baseball, hockey and college leagues.”

It has been an honor to work with such an Iconic brand such as Starter.

So proud to be apart of launching both Responsive WordPress Websites. The team at Starter was very receptive to exploring new design styles, typography, photo treatments and parallax scrolling.

Check them out at www.starter.com

The New Starter
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