Firecat Studio

Online Strategies for Business

News and Events

Feb. 3 - Facebook Pages for Business

It's simple to create a Facebook page for your business or organization, but then what? On Friday, Feb. 3, social media pro Jennifer Navarrete will lead a Brain Jam for branding your Facebook page, monitoring and curating activity, and building a following.


Creating, Promoting and Maintaining a Facebook Page

You already know how to use Facebook. Everybody's on Facebook. And creating a Facebook page for business is easy too. Here's what's not so easy:

  • Branding the page beyond the logo
  • Deciding what content to offer
  • Building a fan base

Friday, February 3, 2012
Coworking (open house, just hang out and work) 10:30 am - 3:30 pm
Lunch discussion Noon - 1:30 pm

Where?

Firecat Studio 918 Nolan #104, San Antonio, TX 78202

You're welcome to come get some work done anytime between 10:30 am and 3:30 pm, just like working from a coffee shop but with cooler people and free coffee. Yes, you are welcome to invite others, but there's limited space, so make sure your friends register!


Coworking in March

On Friday, March 2, we're going Local! We'll discuss tactics for getting a local business or branch better online visibility with Google Places, Yelp, Foursquare and more. Save the date!

As always, please feel free to suggest upcoming brown bag topics. Thanks!

 
Worldwide Jelly Week Celebration Friday, 1/20

Firecat is hosting an all-day Jelly coworking session on Friday, January 20 as part of Worldwide Jelly Week. Bring your laptop, cell phone, or pen and paper and get some work done with some fresh faces and ideas around you.

What Is Jelly?

Jelly is a worldwide coworking movement, and it's how Firecat Studio was introduced to the coworking concept in 2006. Knowledge workers and creatives can pretty much work where ever they like, as long as they have an Internet connection. The next logical step is - where do you want to work from? For a lot of us, that's often home. But home can be isolating; you can miss the water cooler chats with coworkers and the face time with other human beings. Coworking, and Jelly, have sprung up as an alternative place to work.

To quote from the Jelly website:

Jelly started in NYC in February of 2006 when roommates Amit and Luke realized that they loved working from home, but they missed the creative brainstorming, sharing, and camaraderie of a traditional office. (Office politics, not so much.)

So they started inviting friends to come work from their home one day a week. They soon found that working in close proximity to new and interesting people every couple weeks resulted in new ideas and interesting conversations.

Emboldened by their early success, they made it a more regular thing. Jelly was born.

And What's Worldwide Jelly Day 2012?

It's a celebratory week of coworking happening worldwide. San Antonio's godfather of coworking, Todd O'Neill, has organized coworking sessions in San Antonio each day of the week. Here's the schedule so far:

  • Monday, January 16 - Geekdom, Weston Centre, 112 East Pecan, 11th Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205. Map
  • Tuesday, January 17 - La Taza Coffeehouse, 15060 San Pedro Ave/281, SATX 78232
  • Wednesday, January 18 - TBD 
  • Thursday, January 19 - TBD
  • Friday, January 20 - Firecat Studio, 918 Nolan #104, San Antonio, TX 78202. Free of charge, soft drinks provided. Brownbag lunch. Map


 
2012 Focus: Craft a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Ready for 2012? Friday, Jan. 6 Firecat's coworking & brownbag session will make sure your marketing explains your Unique Selling Proposition — specifically how what you offer is different, and better, than alternatives. Kate Hayward will lead the workshop.


Craft a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

It's one thing to describe what you offer. It's a bit more difficult to get really specific about how buying from you is unique — different and better — than buying from your competition.

A first step in creating a modern business plan, your unique selling proposition tells prospects what you sell, how they benefit from buying it, and why you're the best provider of it than anyone else.

The USP was first described in the 1940s, popularized in the 1960s, and this key marketing idea is still vital today. From the 1961 edition of Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves:

  1. An advertising message must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product or service, and you will get this specific benefit."
  2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
  3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.

Do you offer the lowest price? Highest quality? More choices? Best guarantee of results? A unique combination of skills and experience?

In this free coworking workshop, Kate Hayward will help participants draft their own USPs and review and improve them by getting feedback and ideas from one another. The eventual goal is to hear people you meet say, "I've heard of you. You're the company that _____ ..." When prospects are able to restate your USP, you know your marketing is effective. Let's get there together in 2012.

You may remember our fabulous presenter, Kate Hayward, from the Visual Thinking workshop she presented at Firecat's coworking and brownbag in September 2011. Kate is a seasoned curriculum developer with a BIG active brain, helps world-changing nonprofits developer and deliver mission-critical train-the-trainer strategies, and shares her thoughts on the Thinkubator.

Light sandwich fare and beverages will be provided. Feel free to bring your own if you prefer.

When?

Friday, January 6, 2012
Coworking (open house, just hang out and work) 10:30 am - 3:30 pm
Lunch discussion Noon - 1:30 pm

Where?

Firecat Studio 918 Nolan #104, San Antonio, TX 78202

You're welcome to come get some work done anytime between 10:30 am and 3:30 pm, just like working from a coffee shop but with cooler people and free coffee. Yes, you are welcome to invite others, but there's limited space, so make sure your friends register!


Coworking in February

On Friday, February 3, Jennifer Navarrete of MediaFuse and Susan Price of Firecat will give a free sample of our upcoming half-day full Facebook Pages for Business. Save the date!

As always, please feel free to suggest upcoming brown bag topics. Thanks!

 
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Texas DIR Comprehensive Web Services Purchasing PDF Print E-mail

Firecat Studio is proud to be a state of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Approved Vendor for Comprehensive Web Services. We are also a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)-certified vendor. We provide a wide variety of web services at deep discounts to educational institutions, state agencies, and other participants in the State of Texas Go DIRect cooperative contracting program. Please note the program is open to agencies outside Texas.

Department of Information Resources

Go DIRect Contract Number:DIR-SDD-1387
Contact:Susan Price, CEO and Chief Web Strategist
Office Phone:210-320-2391
Office Fax:Toll-Free 1-866-721-8380
Direct eMail:DIR (at) firecatstudio.com

Firecat Services Provided under the DIR Contract

  • Website Design & Development
  • Website Hosting
  • Domain Name (DNS) Management
  • Business Tools
  • Email Hosting
  • Accessibility/Section 508 Compliance
  • Web Content Management
  • Future Customization
  • Website Maintenance, Training & Support
  • Turnkey Web Solutions

  Hourly MSRP Total Discount Customer Discount State DIR Customer Price per Hour

1. Website Design/Development

Custom website design, xHTML + CSS development $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Flash/New Media design and development  $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Flash impact movie from provided assets $150 37% 35.75% 96.38
Information Architecture $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Accessibility Audit $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Usability Audit $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Website Domain & Hosting Setup $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Web Application Customization & Setup $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Audit $250 52% 50.75% 123.13
Basic Natural SEO package up to 10 keyword strings $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Comprehensive Natural SEO package, up to 50 keyword strings $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Regular SEO maintenance checks $150 42% 40.75% 88.88
Web-Based Training & E-Learning Development $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Web-Based Training & E-Learning, Curriculum Development $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Web Productivity/Collaboration Tools Training $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Microsoft SharePoint Designer Training $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Social Media Participant Training $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Social Media Authoring Training $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
E-Commerce Shopping Cart Tools & Training $150 42% 40.75% 88.88
E-Mail E-News Platform Training $150 42% 40.75% 88.88
Web and Email Copywriting and Editing $150 52% 50.75% 73.88
Information Graphics $150 42% 40.75% 88.88
Drawing/Sketching and 3D Illustration $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Photography & Videography, one-camera, onsite shoot $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Photography & Videography, research, editing & production $150 42% 40.75% 88.88
Creative Brief $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Competitive Analysis $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Branding Strategy $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Social Media Strategy $200 52% 50.75% 98.50
Unified Communications Strategy $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Grants and Proposals $150 42% 40.75% 88.88
Strategic Planning $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
 

2. Website Hosting

Website Domain & Hosting Setup $150 32% 30.75% 103.88
 

3. Domain Name System (DNS) Management

Strategic Planning $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
 

4. Business Tools

Web Productivity/Collaboration Tools Training $200 27% 25.75% 148.50
Microsoft SharePoint Designer Training $200 27% 25.75% 148.50
E-Commerce Shopping Cart Tools & Training $150 22% 20.75% 118.88
Creative Brief $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Competitive Analysis $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Branding Strategy $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Social Media Strategy $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Unified Communications Strategy $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
Grants and Proposals $150 22% 20.75% 118.88
Strategic Planning $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
 

5. E-mail Hosting

Design eMail or eNews Templates, HTML + plain text $150 37% 35.75% 96.38
Recommend, select and set up hosted eNews system $150 37% 35.75% 96.38
Send eBlasts, track, and report results $150 37% 35.75% 96.38
 

6. Accessibility

Accessibility Audit of existing website or section $200 37% 35.75% 128.50
Usability Audit $150 22% 20.75% 118.88
 

7. Web Content Management

Web Tools Implementation & Training $150 32% 30.75% 103.88
 

8. Future Customization

Web Application Customization & Setup $150 22% 20.75% 118.88
 

9. Maintenance, Training, Support

Web Productivity/Collaboration Tools Training $200 27% 25.75% 148.50
Microsoft SharePoint Designer Training $200 27% 25.75% 148.50
Social Media Participant Training $200 27% 25.75% 148.50
Social Media Authoring Training $200 42% 40.75% 118.50
E-Commerce Shopping Cart Tools & Training $150 22% 20.75% 118.88
E-Mail E-News Platform Training $150 22% 20.75% 118.88
 

10.Turnkey Solution

Custom Website Design & Development, existing content & brand, 15-20 pages, 1 contact form $12,000 32% 30.75% 8,310.00
Customizable Open-Source CMS Website based on Joomla, TypePad, Movable Type or WordPress. Includes consulting, installation, setup, configuration, design of up to 4 template pages, incorporating brand elements, populating content of up to 25 pages and 1 3-hour onsite or remote training session for staff. $22,500 32% 30.75% 15,581.25

Download PDF Version of our price sheet.

How the State of Texas Go DIRect Program Works

The State of Texas issues RFPs for commonly purchased IT products and services and negotiates large, volume discounts for its many customers. Participating agencies can select pre-approved vendors with pre-negotiated discounts. The program serves government agencies throughout Texas and in other states. For more information or to apply to participate, consult the State of Texas Go DIRect cooperative contracting program website.

Why Firecat Studio?

  • We help you with overall digital strategy - it's more important than ever to ensure that website, email, social presence and traditional marketing all work together.
  • We set you up as the owner/controller of your business-critical assets.
  • We've got decades of experience building websites using all types of technologies.
  • We are collaborative; we empower your nontechnical staff to make updates.
  • Our goal is to establish with you a SUSTAINABLE digital ecosystem where content, updates flow through and both business and customer needs are fully met.

How to Order

Contact us to discuss your project. EMail our DIR project team directly at DIR(at)FirecatStudio.com or fax your Statement of Work to us toll-free: 866-721-8380.

DIR Primary Contact:

Susan Price, CEO & Chief Web Strategist, Firecat Studio LLC
210.872.0445
DIR(at)firecatstudio.com

DIR Contract Supervisor:

Joan Scott
512.475.3290
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To other DIR Vendors

Yes, we are a HUB-certified vendor and love to collaborate. Contact us to discuss subcontracting opportunities.