TheAntipop Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Since getting my Associate's degree in Computer Science and finding the job market difficult to crack, I've been trying to build some experience volunteering for web design/development and programming work. I recently finished a site for a not-for-profit organization that has a network of members which are local businesses. They were pleased with the way the site turned out, and the head of the organization brought up a proposal for me to generate some income. Many of the businesses that are members of the site do not have a web presence themselves, but are interested in creating one. The proposal to me was to create 10 different templates for a single informational page for the businesses to choose from with basic info like description, contact info, pricing, etc. They would chose which template they wanted and I would charge a flat rate for the page. I am definitely going to take up this offer, but I am kind of unsure of what to charge for the flat rate. Obviously, creating the templates will take the most time, but once they are done it is just a matter of plugging in the specific company's info. I was thinking somewhere between $25 - $50 for the single page, but I'm not sure if that would be too low. The concept of charging for my work is new to me, so I turn to the forum for an objective perspective. BTW, the web hosting and domains will be taken care of, so that will not be built into my price. Strictly the design and creation of the templates and editing them for each business. Any input would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gevans Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 If the job is fairly quick and cheerful you could still charge more than you stated. As a buisness in the UK I would charge about £300 for the finished project, if that is a single page website. Usually projects would start from £500, but in a starting position it's good to test the water. £300 is about $480 One thing I've learned from a few years is that if someone isn't happy with the price they'll tell you, and then you can compromise if you feel that's justified. A small bit of thinknig for you to do, work out a decent annual wage, divide it by 12. That's what you want to earn monthly. Roughly figure out a daily amount. Once you have that, estiamte the length of time the work will take you. Then you have the number that would suit your expected income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiz Risner Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 how much should i get if i just finished taking an online web design course from Penn Foster Career School? the school says i should make 60 to 70 grand a year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gevans Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Do the math.... 60000/12 = 5 grand a month 60000/365 = 164 per day 164/8 = 20.50 an hour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiz Risner Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 well i know how to do math, im good with that. my question was to just confirm from people who have experience in the field, is that really what i will make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gevans Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 What you charge and what you make can often differ. If you agree a price on an estimated project time, and the project runs over you can't ask them for more, unless there's changes to the initial brief. If a 2 week project takes you 3 weeks you've lost 50%. Also the maths I put in place is based on working monday to sunday, for 52 weeks of the year. (I like weekends off, and sometimes a week) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullyscintilla Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I'm getting ready to do a 6 page site for a local business and I had this same question.. I searched google for answers or tips and came across pretty much the same answer as given here.. I broke it down as, it takes me about a day of work (8hrs) to built a page. Having to do the graphics, design, coding, and plug in content. I figure at an average job you make nearly 100$ a day. 10.00 hr x 8hrs = 80$ I took into account the fact that this was a smaller business and they probably don't have a whole lot to spend. Adding again atop that , that this site is a good reference for other possible clients. I chose to adjust my price so that they can afford me. I will obviously adjust my effort as well. But I finally decided on about 100 per page.. thats 600$ total for the job. Plus they want me to do updates for them and kind of maintain the site. For this I'll be charging about 50$ an hour. Because of the fact that its an "on call" type of thing as well as the fact that it may not be worth my time for less. If it takes me a few hours to update pics or content or make changes either way I've made suffcient money for the time. If i was to charge less an hour for updating I'd end up screwing myself because it would cost the client less money and therefore they will be more willing to pay for it. In turn leading to taking up alot of my time that could otherwise be spent building new sites which I get paid more $ for. At 50$ an hour I can expect an hours worth of work about once a month. So thats only about 50$ per month for maintaince. Sounds fair to me. Like gevans said if they don't like the prices they will say something. If they do then you have the option of altering those prices if you want. You may want to hit up other builders in your local area as well and ask them for an estimate on a "similar" project. This gives you the ability to have competitive prices. And helps to adjust for the "cost of living" in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 how much should i get if i just finished taking an online web design course from Penn Foster Career School? the school says i should make 60 to 70 grand a year What kind of skills do you actually have? I assume you're talking about this. Do you have any experience beyond following that course? If not then I think you'll find it very difficult getting someone to pay you $70,000/year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alco19357 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 ha. it depends what company you work for. an associates degree won't get you that right off the bat, you'll need to work real hard. in order to make 70,000 as a designer, you'll need to work real hard (more than 40 hrs a week). if you work for google... that'll earn you easily 80,000, but if you work for a web design firm, plan on making 10-20/hr. charging people is worse too. if you work for yourself, figure atleast 12/hr then tack on an additional tax fee (5/hr). you should always estimate more than you think it'll be because it always turns out to be more than you think will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg_alpha Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 The proposal to me was to create 10 different templates for a single informational page for the businesses to choose from with basic info like description, contact info, pricing, etc. They would chose which template they wanted and I would charge a flat rate for the page. I was once approached for a similar proposition (but to build 3 templates instead of ten). The issue I have with this concept is twofold: 1) Doing x amount of templates for a single sale makes me question the overall endeavor (if you have a bunch of prebuilt templates waiting in the wings, then that makes things easier obviously). 2) If they are actually expecting the complete code / graphics for these templates, I would instead offer screenshots for them to choose from (even if it means full-sized screenshots). At least with me, the prospective client was expecting 3 fully functional yet different pages (graphics and all) to choose from. So basically I would be building 3 'concept sites' for the price of one. Besides, nothing stops them from taking which ever two they didn't purchase and resell that (with custom graphic modifications) to someone else. I personally grow leery of 'build us x amount of templates to choose from' kind of thing. I would rather offer some initial screenshot mockups and see which one they would like to pursue and go from there. Colour me skeptical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Besides, nothing stops them from taking which ever two they didn't purchase and resell that (with custom graphic modifications) to someone else. Intellectual property laws. Still a crap deal though. In fact I think it's somewhat of an insult even asking for that. I bet they wouldn't ask someone to build three houses and then they'll pick whichever they like best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alco19357 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Besides, nothing stops them from taking which ever two they didn't purchase and resell that (with custom graphic modifications) to someone else. Intellectual property laws. Still a crap deal though. In fact I think it's somewhat of an insult even asking for that. I bet they wouldn't ask someone to build three houses and then they'll pick whichever they like best. eh... intellectual property laws aren't so easy to fight for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiz Risner Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 alright guys thanks for the job pay thing, my prob is solved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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