What should I charge?

I have never done any free lance work.

[Light_Gear]

Ok well I have never done any free lance work.
A friend ask me to develope a site for him and he would pay me to do it.

This is what he is asking for.
website 3-5 pages
credit card use by users
user name and password
when a user logs in they go to some sort of form and fill out a questionare and based on the answers they give it evaluates and gives them a score. I would build this in php most likely.

After they fill out the form it would email them the results as a pdf or html (not sure yet)

Bottom line is I am not sure what is even a fare price to do this work is. I can not base it on hours of work because I will probible learn some new things.

Any input into this matter would be great. and would php be the best way to build this form.

[gstick]

I cannot address the technical questions. Yours, however, is primarily a business question.

First I take it that you are interested in doing free lance work? If so you want this job.

It appears that you do not have direct experience in some of the tasks that you will be tackling? So this will be a learning experience.

As a friend you client will appreciate your help and you will certainly end up with a good job. So you will have a reference and a website to point to.

I suggest that you do a simple effort at a Gannt chart laying out the steps and individual tasks that you will have to take and perform. Focus on each task & take a guess about whether it will take you an hour, a half a day, 2 days etc.

Use a nominal rate such as $10/20 per hour and apply that to your total to get a figure. Round it off. Give yourself plenty of unexpected problem time and give your friend a figure and a completion time frame that he is unlikely to be able to beat.

If he is serious you will get the job, be paid for your self-training and end up with a reference and a stronger friendship.

[Light_Gear]

Well I have taken web architecture through FSU online training. I understand how to devlope a preposal.

I have been designing website for ove 4 years. I work for a non profit so I am no paid what the rest of the world would get paid. I work here because I enjoy what I do.

Because of that I do not know what web editors make. And that is my biggest problem.

[gstick]

Okay now I know what you are looking for

Are you talking about an editor or a web development/webmaster?

I would search for recruiters and companies that employ web developers. They should be easy to find and you can simply call and ask some questions.

They will treat you as a potential job candidate and be glad to talk to you at least briefly. (Or at least most of them will.)

[pmkpmk]

Use a nominal rate such as $10/20 per hour

That's not even a bargain rate anymore, that's a "Sale!" rate.

[LifeinAsia]

Although you may not think it's important now, make sure that you have a written contract specifying all the terms. Before you even start to think that you don't need a contract, search WW for several threads along the lines of "My friend hired me for a job, but now refuses to pay."

Working without a contract often brings out the "free" part of freelancing.

Keep this firmly in your mind at all times: friends are friends, but business is business.

[etechsupport]

Depends upon what your direct competitor is charging, the client, the merit of the project, time of completion, your skill etc.

[Animated]

It depends on you and the amount of work you do i think. How much do you think your skills are worth and how much would you charge them in your opinion? I dont think there is a flat rate for web design, but as the way that you describe the website it seems to be a load of work, so choose your price wisely according to the amount of work you will do, but make sure to have a written and signed contract. What i do with clients is the more complicated a website gets the more i charge them,starting from small HTML sites to E- commerce sites with server side programming or flash in them.

[percentages]

>A friend ask me to develope a site for him and he would pay me to do it.

The answer is simple......never charge a friend.....nothing good will ever come from that.

Do the work only if you believe you will learn something, and possibly that your "friend" might be a good "testimonial" for other potential clients.

To me this project says "freebie & good learning experience". That is how I would treat it :)

Once the development is complete maybe your friend decides he/she owes you something, if so he/she will probably pay you back via some other mechanism.

Friends & Business are not a good mix. I'll produce a website for free to any friend that says they'll help me out in the garden once in a while ;)

[the_kraken]

I agree with Percentages for the most part. It is difficult to do business with friends or family for that matter (and I have done it plenty of times). Usually nothing good comes of it. If you are just starting out, I would consider doing it for free and take the learning experience and portfolio building for what it is. That is how I started and it has worked out well for me. You will get to a point where you no longer need to work for free and that is when the fun starts! I try not to 'work' for friends anymore, just help them build their sites; but if I do, I make sure it is very clear that I do what I do to make a living and that they don't do what they do for free either (in a nice way). Also, definitely have some type of contract to work from - it will save your @ss at some point down the road, believe me.

Good luck with whatever you decide!