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Text File  |  1993-10-01  |  6KB  |  86 lines
  1. █     IMPORTANT NOTES FOR DESKTOP PUBLISHING USERS                
  2. ▒     ___________________________________________                 
  3. ▒                                                                 
  4. ░   Registered users of ALPHAQUOTE are provided a 20%             
  5. ░   ($10) discount coupon good toward the purchase of             
  6. ░   "PRICING GUIDE for Desktop Publishing Services", by           
  7. ░   Robert C. Brenner.  This 300+ page book in its third          
  8. ░   printing is the ultimate resource for a successful            
  9. ░   DTP business.  Chapters include:                              
  10. ░                                                                 
  11. ░      1. Price and Pricing Concepts                              
  12. ░      2. Pricing Strategy                                        
  13. ░      3. Estimating, Bidding and Negotiating                     
  14. ░      4. Price Distribution--survey responses from other         
  15. ░          companies across North America.                        
  16. ░      5. Appendix                                                
  17. █             Equipment & Software used in the business           
  18. █             Publications which are regularly read               
  19. ░             Helpful addresses                                   
  20. ░             Profiles of typical DTP, prepress and               
  21. ▒               Service Bureaus                                   
  22. ▒                                                                 
  23. ░   "Price, not timing, can be everything."                       
  24. ░      --Normal Dolph, Success Magazine, June, 1991               
  25. ░                                                                 
  26. ░   Although ALPHAQUOTE was originally written for                
  27. ░   traditional typesetters, it is also appropriate for           
  28. ░   Desktop Publishers.  Because  the nature of DTP               
  29. ░   production differs from traditional typesetting, a            
  30. ░   few adjustments need to be made in order to guarantee         
  31. ░   accuracy.  The setup file DTP.DTA supplied with the           
  32. ░   program is based on national averages and should be           
  33. ░   used initially.  However, using the correct hourly            
  34. █   rates for your organization is critical to successful         
  35. █   estimating and a successful business. Please make sure        
  36. ░   your rates correctly reflect:                                 
  37. ░             Rent                                                
  38. ░             Equipment Depreciation                              
  39. ░             Salaries                                            
  40. ░             Employee Benefits                                   
  41. ▒             Supplies                                            
  42. ▒             Deliveries                                          
  43. ░             Advertising                                         
  44. ░             Repairs                                             
  45. ░             Bad Debts                                           
  46. ░                                                                 
  47. ░   The best method is to have your accountant calculate          
  48. ░   your hourly rates.  A general "rule of thumb",                
  49. ░   however, is to multiply the salary times 3.  For              
  50. ░   example, if you wished to pay yourself $10 per hour,          
  51. █   your hourly rate to charge your clients would be $30          
  52. █   dollars an hour.  Although not very scientific it is          
  53. ░   surprisingly accurate.                                        
  54. ░                                                                 
  55. ░   █   Always complete the estimate answering all of the         
  56. ░       questions.  Pasteup is an automatic function in           
  57. ░       DTP whereas ALPHAQUOTE handles typesetting and            
  58. ░       pasteup as two separate operations.  The best             
  59. ░       procedure is to split your DTP hourly rate in half        
  60. ▒       and use those figures for typeset and pasteup             
  61. ▒       rate.  For example, if you charge $35 per hour,           
  62. ░       then the typeset rate would be $17.50 and the             
  63. ░       pasteup rate would be $17.50.  Answer yes to the          
  64. ░       Paste Up Y/N question and answer the rest of the          
  65. ░       questions to complete the estimate.                       
  66. ░                                                                 
  67. ░    █  Use the productivity % to fine tune ALPHAQUOTE.           
  68. █       This is a percentage of efficiency of the person          
  69. █       doing the work.  85% is considered average.  By           
  70. ░       raising this percentage the price will be                 
  71. ░       lowered--it takes a more efficient operator less          
  72. ░       time to produce the job.  Lowering the percentage         
  73. ░       conversely increases the cost.  Find an average           
  74. ░       that works best for your organization.  Avoid             
  75. ░       basing estimates on you most efficient                    
  76. ░       employee--if a less efficient person actually does        
  77. ░       the work you lose money.                                  
  78. ░                                                                 
  79. ▒       Thank you for evaluating ALPHAQUOTE.  I hope you          
  80. ▒       find it a useful tool for your continued success.         
  81. ░                                                                 
  82. ░                                                                 
  83. ░                             Bruce Robey,                        
  84. ░                             President                           
  85. █                             AlphaBytes, Inc.                    
  86.