Web design pricing?
Carroll Morgan
pricing strategies (I know, "Get as much as you can."). How do you break
down your prices for static pages and pages with motion? What about
e-commerce sites and database pages?
Thanks.
--
Carroll Morgan Photography (a rookie, but with a decent design eye)
Asheville, NC
(828) 252.0654
http://www.cmorgan.net
David Lewis
Wow, there is a loaded question. I think it has a lot to do with experience,
etc. I started doing DTP about 6 years ago. Branched into web about 3+ years
ago. When I started with DTP, I charged $20/hr. I'm at $50 now. And you can
no longer use those in your area as a gauge as the world is now your
competition. :)
I really think pricing comes from doing projects. You do an estimate for
project X, when you get to the end, you have either underestimated or over
estimated. For the next project, you kinda average it out. And of course,
the more project you do the better you get at estimating.
Aside from factoring in your design time, you also have to factor in your
project management time, the time it takes to do up invoicing, marketing,
overhead, etc.
I have a really standard price sheet on my website that is purely a
guideline. It gives people an idea of what their project may cost. Some
don't like doing that, but the option is yours. Don't under price. Better to
spend time research costs than winging it. I have see places charge $25 per
page ... or $150 for a 5 page web site. Well, no offense to anyone, but you
get what you pay for. And HOW can anyone make money at that rate?
As for static versus dynamic ... depends on dynamic. Is it DHTML? Is it
JavaScript, CGI? etc. Again, time.
As for e-commerce. Well, again, depends on what your doing. Are you building
from scratch? Are you using something like iCat which handles all the
processing? Getting confused yet? :)
As for database driven sites ... gonna have to leave that to someone else.
Haven't had a chance to do one yet.
Hope this helps.
David
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
David Lewis * Taybridge Communications * Team NetObjects
"Built from Solid Experience and Excellent Service"
e-mail: david...@taybridge.com
web: http://www.taybridge.com
Carroll Morgan <cmor...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:7gfa6c$nm...@news.netobjects.com...
Prakash Thadani
I have to generally agree with David, I usually quote around $40 per page for small sites, and by
project for larger sites, I also tell them the quote is for normal pages with no Dynamic stuff
except for some animated gif's. Extra pictures and other stuff is always extra. I try and keep the
price low, so as to get them to give me the entire package, including hosting on my server (for an
additional fee). If they want to host it somewhere else the price is much higher depending on
content. I prefer to do the hosting as that is repeat business with little work. I also charge
them for Search Engine submission. I do include minor changes (within reason) for free. Just to
give you an idea, my old company where I am now a consultant, 3 days a week, some from home, pays
me $40 an hour to do their web stuff.
Hope this helps.
--
Prakash S. Thadani
Ad...@ccs-ols.com
http://www.ccs-ols.com
Rick Wilton
There is a book called Pricing Guide for Web Services by Robert C. Brenner. It
will give you a terrific foundation on pricing.
ISBN 0-929535-18-9
Directly 1-800-811-4337 plus I'm sure you can get it from one of the online
book stores.
Regards,
Rick
Carroll Morgan
Thanks for the info. The book was published in 1997. Is it still valid re:
pricing? Would you buy it NOW?
Thanks.
--
Carroll Morgan Photography
Asheville, NC
(828) 252.0654
http://www.cmorgan.net
Rick Wilton <rjwi...@execpc.com> wrote in message
news:372FB424...@execpc.com...
Rick Wilton
market should handle.
RW
Visionary
Some examples,
A 5 page site, with a message board, cost the owner $450.00 < this quickly
grew into an 11 page site with a message board, members only area, and a
monthly maintenance contract of $1600.00/month.
a 72 page site, with a flat file interactive matchmaking database cost the
owner $3800.00
another 7 page site, with no interactivity cost the owner $1000.00
We gauge the prices on the owners, and the elements they want incorporated
into their site. Each site will be different.
Rick Wilton <rjwi...@execpc.com> wrote in message
news:3730B88B...@execpc.com...
Kurt Lischka
SSL, FBI, and CIA. Automatic additional charges which cover pain and
suffering, loss of sleep, eye strain, wrist lockup, and social withdrawal
amount to $.39 per hour. Quotes begin rising when I run a client's site
through www.pay-per-pixel.com , it counts the pixels per page, gives a total
for the site, then converts it into any currency you wish using the
multiplier: total pixels per site X .0000000000000000000000000000456 USD.
Variables to take into consideration when estimating total costs: density
and size of graphics, and visitors' screen resolution.
Or you can go by an old thumb rule: If you never hear a complaint about the
height of your price, or never lose a job because of it, you're probably not
charging enough.
Kurt Lischka
Moon Creek Studios
www.mooncreek.com
Visionary <visionar...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:7gqn9i$1b...@news.netobjects.com...
Bill Patterson
--
Bill Patterson
Wright Way Management Web Services
Home of the "Web Brochure"
Visit: www.wwmgmt.com/wwmws
Kurt Lischka <ku...@mooncreek.com> wrote in message
news:7gthgd$ab...@news.netobjects.com...
Prakash Thadani
Trying to be helpful, please don't get offended. the correct
word is Net Site, not Net Sight, it seems to
be a very common mistake, however people willing to spend money on
your services may get put off if they feel you don't know the correct spelling.
--
Prakash S. Thadani
Ad...@ccs-ols.com
http://www.ccs-ols.com
Team NetObjects
Anthony Perez
Client/Project basis... Of course the more they want, the more resources we
need to use, and the more of a great weekend the GF and I are going to have!
:-)
Dawn Robertson
get clients? I had a site up for a while, didn't get even one response from
it. (And it was a good site!) I've been web designing for 3 years now, and
have made only two sites that I was paid for. All the rest are freebies for
myself or others. I'd hoped that my work would speak for itself, and always
post my URLs on my resumes, but I'm getting nowhere fast! This is something
I really want to do as a career. BTW, i'm self-taught.
Dawn
Carroll Morgan wrote in message <7gfa6c$nm...@news.netobjects.com>...
Prakash Thadani
Dawn, I too have been doing websites for clients for little over 3 years, Get a few queries from
people who visit some of the sites, none has ever signed up for one. There is no substitute for
contacts. Most of my business has been thru existing clients and people I know. I currently have
about 15 paying clients and 3 more in the works.
Jack
>
> She asked a good question, I've got one that goes a bit further. How do you
> get clients? I had a site up for a while, didn't get even one response from
> it. (And it was a good site!) I've been web designing for 3 years now, and
> have made only two sites that I was paid for. All the rest are freebies for
> myself or others. I'd hoped that my work would speak for itself, and always
> post my URLs on my resumes, but I'm getting nowhere fast! This is something
> I really want to do as a career. BTW, i'm self-taught.
Hey Dawn,
Here's a few tips (no guarantees of profit!):
a) Whenever you post a message in a newsgroup like this, include a URL
to your website and maybe a nice quote or something, like:
"Best regards
Jack Dalaa
--
http://www.mycoolwebsite.com
"Life is a party, and you're invited." - S. Omeone"
.. Humans are curious, if there's a URL we'll follow it.
b) Sign up with developer programs and such to get listed within your
area of work, for instance the NetObjects Solution Providers, Allaire
Partner etc etc etc. Potential customers looking for a developer will
eventually stop by your name on the list and who knows..
c) Hook up with other developers and build your own little 'solution
provider' - you're good at something, someone else is good at something
else - uniting all those forces into one, is a big seller - being able
to offer solutions. Its two ways, you redirect work you cannot do
yourself in exchange for work someone else cant.
d) Educate yourself - the Internet evolves constantly and keeping up
with new technologies and being able to deliver the latest gadgets is
what makes the money rolling. Seperate yourself from the rest.
Teaming up with others, not necessarily in a company or anything like
that, but making a network of people you can share work, ideas etc with
is worth gold. For instance, I'm good at Web Application development and
I really suck at graphics, so I need relationships with graphic
designers to deliver a solution. <-- Did you notice how I sneaked in
what I do - entirely on purpose of course? ;-)
Bottom line, keep fighting - there's so much potential in the Internet.
Jack
Ed Mini
business! It all boils down to time.
Figure you can only actually bill half your time. You have to allow for
administration, personal training, sales, meetings, meetings, meetings, etc. etc.
etc. Don't forget vacations, answering posts on the NOF site, surfing, fooling
around on the Web! So figure 1000 billable hours. (A law firm figures 1500
billable hours but they have people doing all the admin work, sales, etc.) Of
course, if you figure on working 15 hours/day, 7 days a week you've got a bigger
billing base, but do you have a life? Now pick your earnings figure - say $65,000.
That's $65/billable hour. Add overhead (computers, rents, office help, phones,
internet access, etc.) In my case, that's $1000/month (and I have cheap rent),
$12,000/year, or $12/billable hour. Add that to $65/hour and you get $77/hour, or
$75/hour to keep things round. Now, how long does it take to do a page? How long
does it take to do it over, after you show it to the client? How much unbillable
time do you spend just mending fences? I think you have to figure an average of 2
hours/page, not counting graphics, scripting, etc.or thinking up clever stuff.
As far as finding work - well, that's where the other 1000 hours go!
--
Ed Mini
edm...@inftek.com
Terry
"The Geek's Guide to Internet Business Success"
by Bob Schmidt.
Look it up at www.amazon.com
Terry
Louis Papp
Look over the site and order the books if you like.
Also I used to send resumes out to brokers and hardly made anything out of the resumes, but I ended up doing some support for the brokers!
Louis
Dawn Robertson wrote:
She asked a good question, I've got one that goes a bit further. How do you
get clients? I had a site up for a while, didn't get even one response from
it. (And it was a good site!) I've been web designing for 3 years now, and
have made only two sites that I was paid for. All the rest are freebies for
myself or others. I'd hoped that my work would speak for itself, and always
post my URLs on my resumes, but I'm getting nowhere fast! This is something
I really want to do as a career. BTW, i'm self-taught.
Dawn Robertson
from the yellow pages businesses that don't have a web address listed...but
I'm not looking forward to it..any suggestions? Doing free site, pumping
friend, neighbors and co-workers isn't doing it.
Dawn
Anthony Perez wrote in message <3735C778...@ionia-mi.net>...
>> > > Thanks.
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Carroll Morgan Photography
>> > > Asheville, NC
>> > > (828) 252.0654
>> > > http://www.cmorgan.net
>> > > car...@cmorgan.net
>> > >
>> > > Rick Wilton <rjwi...@execpc.com> wrote in message
>> > > news:372FB424...@execpc.com...
>> > > > Caroll:
>> > > >
>> > > > There is a book called Pricing Guide for Web Services by Robert C.
>> > > Brenner. It
>> > > > will give you a terrific foundation on pricing.
>> > > >
>> > > > ISBN 0-929535-18-9
>> > > >
>> > > > Directly 1-800-811-4337 plus I'm sure you can get it from one of
the
>> > > online
>> > > > book stores.
>> > > >
>> > > > Regards,
>> > > >
>> > > > Rick
>> > > >
>> > > > Carroll Morgan wrote:
>> > > >
Jonathan Roberts
I would suggest running it like a real business. Get together the
finances and go live. At my company, we have 5--8 salespeople (they
come and go a lot) and 8-10 telemarketers (even greater coming and
going).
Our telemarketers dial THOUSANDS of businesses daily. It has worked
great for us. And they are only using the Yellow Pages!
Jonathan
On Wed, 11 Aug 1999 15:40:05 -0500, "Dawn Robertson"
<id...@geotec.net> wrote:
>OK, my question is....how do you get clients? I'm planning on cold calling
>from the yellow pages businesses that don't have a web address listed...but
>I'm not looking forward to it..any suggestions? Doing free site, pumping
>friend, neighbors and co-workers isn't doing it.
>Dawn
Jonathan M. Roberts
Advantage Innovation
http://www.advantageinnovation.com
Jerry Vega
involved with their community events. This will allow you to network face to
face with your market. I also supply a monthly news letter distributed at
chamber functions that warn of Internet scams, and advice on doing business
on the web. Give to your community and it will give back. Give it some time
though, nothing will work instantly.
--
Jerry Vega
Third Earth Web Design
Jonathan Roberts <jrob...@advantageinnovation.com> wrote in message
news:37b2bd64...@news.netobjects.com...
Jonathan Roberts
<third...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>Another thing you could try is to join the local Chamber of Commerce and get
>involved with their community events. This will allow you to network face to
>face with your market. I also supply a monthly news letter distributed at
>chamber functions that warn of Internet scams, and advice on doing business
>on the web. Give to your community and it will give back. Give it some time
>though, nothing will work instantly.
Couldn't agree more! My company has done sites for the local Boy
Scout Council, the Red Cross, Junior Achievement and numerous other
organizations for free or at a serious discount.
These organizations are huge resources and GREAT references. Also,
they do most of the work ie. pictures, marketing, even layout!