Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
I got a call today from a friend of mine who connected me to someone who wants some work done on his 2 websites...
Well here are a few things i'd like to get straight...
The work may include some editing and maybe some layout work. I was given their urls and..well lets not bash someone else's skills but they left a lot to desire.
so if they want some editing on their site, what is it that I can do so that the design co. who built the site does not get my credit for fixing their mistakes, they have their company logo at the bottom of evey page and I don't want o infringe on their copyrighted stuff, but I don't want them getting my business when I had to go in there and fix their mess!
Also what is the insudtry standard as far as pricing for:
Editing(script fixing):
Animations(flash animations):
Layout design:
Graphic development:
Sorry about all the questions but as I said This would be my first paying job so I wouldn't want to undersell myself or overprice my services.
Thanks,
--este
I do small telecommute jobs on a regular basis, thus keeping a constant eye on the prices.
never meant to cause trouble.
Hi, you weren't causing any trouble at all. But things like questions of legal standing of this or that are tightly regulated in the United States.
For instance, the Nolo press publishes How to Books for writing contracts, divorces, etc. that were banned in Texas (1997) because the Texas lawyers claimed that Nolo were illegally practicing law in the state of Texas. After a couple years of legal wrangling, the Texans backed down as Nolo claimed their First Ammendment rights to free speech, and the Texas legistlature wrote a special loop-hole law exempting publishers as long as they had a disclaimer in the book.
You can read more about it here [nolo.com].
Right or wrong, that's the state of things in the United States, and giving advice on the legality of this or that can get you into hot water fast.
As far as how much to charge, charge as much as you need to keep profitable, taking into consideration the time you will spend doing it, and perhaps the time spent researching any scripts etc. you will need. It's important to gauge how much your local competitors charge, but I find that these rates go all over the chart: from the kid in his bedroom charging McJob rates to the enterprise level web design agencies that charge 5 figure sums. You should fit somewhere in between, and that's a large "in-between" indeed.
:)
The quickest simplest method is to call two or three website bods and ask them for a price based on your spec ;)
Talk to them, sound them out and ask them all you need to know.
is to call two or three website bods and ask them for a price based on your spec
For the above reason, I never quote prices until I know who I am talking to, and have qualified the person.
some things about your project would trouble me if they came my way
who owns these websites? Do I misunderstand when you say that the webdesigner's logo is all over the site? Did I read that wrong?
when I build a site for someone they end up owning it, because I'm very clear about that in the contract.
If I had any doubts about whose property I was working with I would immediately stop everything and get that clear - can you clarify, and also about the copyright?
ps ..no kind of legal advice coming from here whatsoever btw, and the fact that this even seems murky to me would send me looking for some clear permissions from the actual site owner, and/or some qualified legal advice
esteban
Thanks to all and whish me luck!
Then you can charge in one of two ways:
1) hourly, or,
2) fixed rate.
If you charge hourly just keep track of your time and bill them. I'd recommend getting at least half the estimated cost up front.
If you're going to charge a fixed rate, then:
a) estimate how long it will take,
b) pad it a litle for unforseen delays, and
c) identify EVERY possible scenario that can cause the job to take longer than estimated.
Once you have A and B you can set the price and the payment terms. With C you can define the scope of the project in the contract.
For example, you'd never want make a broad statement like "I'll build a website for you for X amount of money" because your idea of a website may differ greatly with their idea of a website and you may find yourself doing a job for much less than it's worth. There's a big diference in the amount of time you'll spend editing an HTML page vs. a 15 minute Flash movie for example. Or marking up a page with 300 words of text vs. a 300-field form with backend scripting and form field validation.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a lawyer, your mileage may vary. ;)
For the above reason, I never quote prices until I know who I am talking to, and have qualified the person.
Before you call martinibuster, make sure you've got your act together! :)
--este
