Franni: >Be realistic: have you had even one lead via this work? If not, unless >you're seriously into masochism,[ in which case I'm sure someone >geographically local to you on the list could volunteer to whip you for
>your own good ] it's time to cut your loses. Todd: No leads yet, but she keeps telling me that she knows several people that could use my services. Can you see me crawling into the corner yet???? :( Tim: Keep in mind that part of your problem doesn't really have to do with your customer; it's related to moving from one paradigm (I'm a newbie and I'm just practicing building websites) to another (I'm becoming a professional and should be paid for my expertise). I went through the same shift several years ago when I provided some database work for a local medical school. I set up the database they wanted for free, just to work with some new software I was interested in. But then after that they decided they needed monthly data updates from an outside source, which consisted of converting a lot of Excel spreadsheets into tables. The data was pretty rough so the conversions didn't always go smoothly. In the end I ended up charging them $100/month maintenance fees (which they went for gladly since nobody on staff seemed to have the capability). It got more interesting after about a year, when I finally decided to yank the database due to some pretty serious legal implications from money they were making from its use (i.e. the supervisor wasn't taking home just a paycheck). :-) So don't go hard on yourself. It's difficult to know how hard to push. You'll find that reflected in the different viewpoints of listers - some (like me) will do free small websites for friends and relatives, and others won't or don't. Either way has advantages and disadvantages. Tim ___________________________ Tim Furry Web Developer Foulston Siefkin LLP ____ � The WDVL Discussion List from WDVL.COM � ____ To Join wdvltalk, Send An Email To: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Send Your Posts To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change subscription settings to the wdvltalk digest version: http://wdvl.internet.com/WDVL/Forum/#sub ________________ http://www.wdvl.com _______________________ You are currently subscribed to wdvltalk as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
