Dude -”I need a website, how much is that?”
by Paul AnthonyAs most website developers know, quoting for a project based on the clients vague “I need a website, how much does it cost” statements can be a royal pain in the behind. You often seen developers asking how much to charge around the web in forums etc. Here is some solid advice.
1) How much is the competition charging for a similar project? Especially in your area.
2) Are you a new designer / developer? If so, you are still working to create a name for your self. This could come at a cost, since sometimes to get the job and good review you will need to lower your prices.
3) Charge by the hour.
Remember… cheap is not always good… find something in betweent that will guarantee you get the job and create some word of mouth. At the same time make sure it makes you some money to justify your hard work.
One such tool to extract the requirements out of the is a quote sheet / requirements document, if you haven’t yet got one for your site, might be worth having a look through some of these. I plan on updating my own, and adding it to this list in a bit, I’ve yet to sift through the best / most relevant questions asked by some of these agencies / freelancers.
http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/downloads/rfq_2007.doc
http://cybodia.com/docs/Client%20worksheet.doc
http://www.erskinedesign.com/erskine_enquiry_survey.doc
http://www.designbyfront.com/downloads/requirements_definition.doc
http://www.designbysatori.com/rfq.pdf
http://www.greenjersey.com/images/stories/business/GreenJerseyCustomerRequirements.doc
Jan 19th 2008
”I need a website, how much is that?” I’ve heard that quite a few times over the years
As you say you need to work with the potential client and get a detailed spec drawn up.
“cheap is not always good” - If you intend to run as a business with business costs then you’ll soon find out that cheap doesn’t work.
May 22nd 2008
Cost cost cost, I have developed a stutter continually repeating myself to clients that its basically “as long as a piece of string”…
I have come to the point of simply telling clients “Whats your budget?” and even though this gets a few hmms and ahhhss its much less of a run around than any other method I have found. Telling them that if they want to what your minimum price is and saying it then goes in increments depending on what you want usually helps to close a deal and solidify the client.
While the downloads and client questionnaires are all well and good I want to ask just how many clients actually do fill them in? Are you not kept waiting for weeks at a time?
And the cheap comment? No its not always good, especially if the client is a business and is serious about seeing a return on the site!
May 30th 2008
[quote]While the downloads and client questionnaires are all well and good I want to ask just how many clients actually do fill them in? Are you not kept waiting for weeks at a time?[/quote]
We have a great success rate with this document, it helps us to identify clients who we want to work with and who are serious about committing to the job ahead. When we receive a phone call from a potential client, after a short chat, our initial port of call is to ask them to fill out the requirements document before we go any further. Serious clients will often reply within days if not on the same day. This provides us with a very useful stepping stone from which to launch a fresh project.
Hope this helps,
Chuck.
May 30th 2008
Hi Charlie, thanks for your comments / feedback. Big hello to Paul, Jamie and all the guys at Front.
Paul.