I rarely even mention web standards to clients anymore unless they are govt or govt agencies. I agree that as someone paying a builder to build a house for me, I don't need to know the pros and cons of a certain type of mortar - just do the job and do it so it gets me the result I want!
My pitch revolves around the client's bottom line - ROI and profit. If web standards directly increase the ROI (as in the case of govt and ecommerce) I'll push it. If it's someone selling something, I'll push the accessibility sub-set of web standards. I'll talk about the varying kinds of disabilities, ranging from people who wear - or need - glasses, to people with arthritis, to people with intellectual disadvantages, to those who don't have access to modern computers and browsers, through to those who can't see or hear at all... I find too many people equate accessibility with making sure people using screen readers can access a site whereas really it affects *far* more of the general population than a lot of us are aware. These are all clients' potential customers - why turn them away? Regarding charging - like anything, the more experienced you get the faster you get so it's a bit silly to charge across a project on the basis of time spent. I charge according to value for money and won't compete on price. (I just got a job for a redesign where the original site was done by a 16 year old kid for $300 and the client didn't see why he should have to pay what was to him "big bucks" and in fact firmly stated he didn't have it to spend... but my proposal evidently convinced him and I didn't even mention web standards. As someone said, it's about pushing the right buttons for a given client. Regarding charging for experience and skills - well, yes you do. That's your IP (Intellectual Property) and it's worth something! (Though of course just because you are a Java programmer it doesn't mean you can charge Java programming rates for ordinary web design work.) But I think my clients are going to see evidence of the IP and what they're paying for when I present my proposal. I'm not going to charge *extra* for my web standards knowledge as such. In my view it should be "standard". :-) But my clients will pay for the overall benefit to them, whatever that might be. I do believe that most businesses care more about value for money than price. (There is *always* going to be someone to undercut you on the price alone.) We just have to give them what they want - make them want to buy, instead of trying to sell them something! If web standards are a part of that, then by all means sell them for all they're worth! If not, no biggie - just do the job the best way you know how - which is what the client will expect after your fantastic pitch. :-) Vicki. :-) On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 23:01:09 -0800, Rick Faaberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 11/25/04 7:00 PM "Jixor - Stephen I" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> sent this out: > > > To be honest I don't understand how building using standards could cost > > more unless you simply don't know what your doing. Its really as simple > > as that, there is no extra work involved in using standards, if anything > > its less work. Building using standards is a choice not an extra. ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
