At 11:12 AM -0500 3/8/08, Bastien Koert wrote:
The hard part i find is getting the client to scope it out
correctly. I started a job last year and it was to be a 10-15 page
site to capture some information. So I contracted for $1500. Now its
a year later, the client has changed his mind numerous times and the
scope has explode out over 100 pages, with all sorts of custom
interaction (if this happens send this email, if that happens send
another). It has become a real pain and I am definitely not making
the $75 / hr i initially scoped.
But as tedd mentioned, I too love the work and it helps be build
pieces for future projects
bastien
What we charge and do is not normally discussed on this list. In the
past people have said that doing so is price fixing and all sort of
other negative comments. But, I don't think discussing what's the
going rate and how to get business should be prohibited speech.
However, I could be wrong.
In any event, I have one project at the moment that started out at 25
pages and now exceeds 80 -- and these are not static pages. Every
page is dynamic and uses up to 20 database extractions to pull out
data as needed. None of the pages are simple. Total cost thus far is
in the $5-$10k range.
The client said he wanted a simple face-lift for his site, but he did
not say that it included numerous expressions. What started as a
month project is now almost a year old and continuing in time and
cost.
The biggest problem I've faced with this client is that he thinks he
"knows" html and the answer is using tables and font tags. It's been
maddening to try to get him to understand that his perspective is
dated and is costing him more to create an inferior site than to do
it right. But, I'm making progress in educating him as to what's
possible -- and that's the key.
Normally, I never do a site for less than $1k and that's a static
three page. I used to charge $500 for a 3 page and $50 per month for
hosting, but that became a pain so I stopped doing that. Now, I just
charge per project.
For larger sites ($10k), my design skills are limited - so I
recommend hiring a designer for a minimum of $1k per design! So, the
costs here in developing a real business site are not trivial. This
is not the old "My neighbor's son learned how to do web sites in high
school" project but rather a serious means to increase sales.
My job is to put it all together to make it work right -- meaning to
be consistent with current technologies (i.e., unobtrusive,
validates, accessible, and more more) AND for the site to do what the
client wants and more. I have been known to hire other programmers if
there is something that I don't understand -- you can't know
everything, but be careful how you tell your client that.
The main point here is that most of the work I do is for clients who
make money off the net. Most of it is not creating an Internet
billboard but rather developing a vehicle to increase sales. Some of
my clients have paid as much as $20k for a single Yellow Pages ad, so
they understand that you have to put respectable money into
advertising. Plus, the Internet is a much wider audience with much
greater sales possibilities. I asked one client "Can you handle an
expansion to your sales territory?" That actually killed one deal --
they didn't want to expand.
In any event, web sites/applications are more involved than what
normally meets the layman's eye. Educating your clients as to what
can be can be more important in getting more work than what they
think they need. But, that's my perspective.
Cheers,
tedd
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