“Rush Work” and “Rush Fees”: What Are They and How Do They Work?

We understand that some work can be unplanned and require faster turnarounds or last-minute changes. That’s life. This is more so in online investor relations, where a company’s commitment to publish content immediately (first) and widely is critical for its reputation management.

What is Rush Work?

My team aims to deliver affordable, high-quality work on reasonable timelines, but we are subject to significant limitations when we attempt to achieve cheap, fast, and perfect-quality projects simultaneously.

If a project urgently requires our time and resources, interfering with existing plans, we consider it Rush Work. Rush Fees are also called “urgent” or “express delivery” fees, which compensate us for the extra effort and inconvenience that rush work entails.

Rush Work is when the requested deadline is faster than our typical workflow, which varies for different types of work. For example:

• 3-6 months should be the usual project period for a large new corporate website, but if it’s required in one that’s Rush Work,
• one week is usually required for structural website changes involving programming. If changes are needed in 24 hours, that’s Rush Work,
• 36 – 48 hours is generally required for event support planning. If support is needed with 2 hours’ notice, that’s Rush Work,
• 8-24 hours is usually required for social media posts. If a social media post (with wide distribution) is needed immediately, that is Rush Work.

Rush Work causes delays to other scheduled projects, such as time-sensitive projects and revenue-generating initiatives, which could affect our reputation, revenue, or customer satisfaction. Meeting deadlines may also require additional resources, such as hiring freelancers or subcontractors, overtime, such as working extra hours or shifts, or weekend/holiday work, such as working on days when we are typically closed.

Opportunity cost does affect our work: these are the principles of economics and decision-making. Our commitment is emotionally and intellectually prioritized for clients with whom we have a long relationship (our clients have been with us for an average of 9 years), but the economic imperative still underpins everything. It is not possible to carry out Rush Work fast and cheaply.

Rush Fees

We charge a premium to our usual rates and/or Rush Fees to:

• Compensate for the extra effort, resources, and opportunity costs to meet urgent deadlines and specifications.
• Maintain quality and creativity. Rush fees enable high standards despite constraints.
• Prioritize urgent projects. Rescheduling may impact plans with other clients. Rush fees balance competing needs.

In conclusion, Rush Fees are based on:

• Project scope and complexity –
• Urgency and deadline flexibility
• Team availability and capacity