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Process and pricing

Shorewalker DMS's pricing process clarifies what your needs are and what you'll pay to have us meet them.

At Shorewalker DMS , an editor or content creator goes through an initial process to understand your needs properly. And we price our services based on a simple principle: both client and provider should have an accurate understanding of your needs.

What needs to be done often takes some work to determine:

  • Buyers of services rarely know how long it should take to make a document clear, sub-edit a set of web pages or build a three-minute video.
  • A seller of services often does not know what sort of material they will be working on and how much time it will actually take. Our research suggests that the time taken for different types of editing can vary by a factor of 20, so the nature of the material matters a lot.

So we generally use a five-step process to determine the pricing that will leave everyone comfortable:

  1. Initial task discussion: You tell us about your needs and aspirations.
    • If we both like what we're hearing, we agree on a process to quickly analyse your needs.
  2. Task analysis: In this step, we'll ask for the key parameters of the work. We will focus on:
    • your audiences
    • what you need to achieve for them
    • models you have for success, including your own previous reports and work by other organisations
  3. Detailed task scoping: We will answer the question: "What sort of editing does your document need". In doing this, we may ask if you can provide samples of work already done.
  4. Pricing: We will discuss the most effective way for you to spend on the project, which may be a flat fee or an hourly or, less commonly, a per-word rate.
  5. Editing proposal: At the end of this process, we present for discussion a full proposal for the editing work, including pricing alternatives.
    • If we agree on the editing proposal, we sign a contract and agree a schedule. Then we begin the editing work.
    • To assist us in the editing stage, we will often ask you to complete a Shorewalker DMS Project Start Worksheet.