The_Contractor - 2:08 pm on Feb 10, 2007 (gmt 0)

By this I mean, you may not be able to charge what the rest of the free world is charging for professional web development when quoting your local businesses.

That may be a good thing. I know others whom have found developers in other countries willing to work for $8-10 and hour US and they are actually skilled (language is often the largest problem, not the spoken word, but the meaning/context of it).

If you quote professional graphic design and php/mysql development even at an $80/hour rate, these folks here faint from sticker shock.

Less than most licensed plumbers charge to do work ;)

Seriously though, we have never revealed an hourly rate except to "other" developers we are doing work for (and that is rare). Why would you reveal an hourly rate? If they want add-ons or additional work - simply figure it out and say it would cost $xx.xx amount.

I would rather try to compete on a global basis and charge a respectable amount for what we do. But then again, if you aren't positioned to compete globally, or even nationally, then the local market may be just for you.

Who is "positioned to compete globally"? How does say a compnay in the USA compete and get work from Asian countries? Unless you are fluent in several languages and you are willing to work for nothing, most companies in the USA are going to get work from USA, Europe, Australia, and some from Canada. Most of your work will come from the USA unless you are in a specific niche. So they are somebodys "local" clients.

The "best" customers have already paid someone else for a site, scripting, or other service at least once ;)

[edited by: The_Contractor at 2:12 pm (utc) on Feb. 10, 2007]