Business + Marketing > Simple Client Guide to the Web Industry
Since i'm just breaking into freelance work, take this with a few grains of salt, but when I figured out what to charge, I divided it into two areas: site design/redesign and content management /consulting. For one, I usually start at $100/page and go from there depending on the complexity and functionality of the site. I originally thought to charge a flat fee, but that doesn't really account for the flexibility in project scope that can happen. For the other, it's baseline $35/hour. I felt it was fair considering my skills and knowledge, and there doesn't seem to be any shortage of businesses coming into Squarespace and needing advice on varying aspects of getting their site set up.
Stephen Bates
Nollind,
Good topic. This piece really stuck out to me:
"Just the initial process of sitting down with a client, connecting with them, and discovering their creative needs for their website, can easily take a week to two weeks in itself. In effect, it isn't the actual development that is taking the time so much as the discovery and planning of the website itself."
I really think the root of the problem here is "not starting with the content". Content informs the design so, not having content to start out with puts you in an "open Photoshop, goat's head" scenario. -- anything can happen. You believe that you are feeling out the client's "design scope", but for me this is always the point where I have too little to go on and end up falling in love with myself. The truth is that the build should start in the browser (if possible) without "Lorem Ipsum".
Web pros need to promote "getting the content first" to clients. It takes less time, and it's better for everybody. Many times clients have bad ideas, are terrible writers, or are just not the type of person to update site content. Knowing this up front makes a huge difference.
Stephen Parker
Yes, good topic Nollind, definitely. I completely agree with Stephen on the "content first" point.
On the topic of billing rates: interestingly, you and I come to similar rates for a complete site, but the hourly rate equation needs some more layers...
A freelancer can't assume 100% billable hours. The calculation I work with assumes only about 55% billable hours. This excellent article from Step Magazine spells out all the considerations very well: Calculating a Freelance Rate
In an agency, your time would be billed out usually at 2x your earned hourly rate. This is to cover the business' overhead (including other employees taking care of what you have to do yourself as a freelancer) as well as profit for the business. Assuming 10% above salary and operating costs is a healthy and reasonable profit for a business.
As a freelancer, you may have the advantage of lower overhead costs. You still have to consider all your non-billable hours (breaks, sick time, holidays), as well as accounting costs, marketing/business development costs, and overhead (internet, phone, software, hardware, studio rent, any necessary travel). Ideally, we also allow for our professional development -- conferences, courses, etc., as well as insurance, healthcare, etc. All of these things are legitimate business costs that directly impact your bottom line and should inform your hourly rate. This is one of the reasons I prefer to consider my work a "Business" rather than "freelance"...It helps me rationalize what it really costs to do this work! Of course we don't need to spell out all of our costs to our clients, but having the formula clearly in mind helps in presenting them with a realistic hourly rate.
In some cases I charge less to win the business, but I know it's my holidays or sick leave and profit margin I am cutting into and I can weigh the costs and benefits accordingly.
ramidonya
Would love some feedback on the following from those within the web industry who develop or design for a living. I'm basically working on some simple material that I can pass to a client that will help them better understand the web industry as a whole but in a very simple yet memorable way.
RATES
While every professional within the web industry will probably charge a different rate based upon their their skills and level of expertise, I came up with the following as an average baseline that should be fairly easy to remember for most clients.
$52,000 / year = $1000 / week = $200 / day
Again this is based upon a professional with the web industry with an average level of skill and expertise. For individuals who are experts within their specific field or highly skilled in multiple areas, expect these rates to easily double or triple. For example, I charge $1250/week, so $65,000/year, which I still feel is fairly reasonable, considering my extensive knowledge and expertise with Squarespace.
What I find interesting about the above is that most clients don't seem to have any issue with this basic rate. When you show them your yearly salary and tell them you live in a major metropolitan city, they seem to be more than understanding.
SCOPE
Now while clients seem very understanding of rates, as noted above, where they seem to be "confused" is when it comes to talking about the scope of a project (i.e. its boundaries such as budget, schedule, etc). For some reason, even after years of work by many professionals in the web industry, most clients still can't seem to comprehend the scope of a project. And this to me is the wall of misconception that seriously needs to be broken down. At the same time though, it has be done in such a way that it is flexible to the variety of professionals in the web industry (i.e. junior to expert). With this in mind, I thought a simple way to do this would be to indicate time ranges and relay the type of work associated with that range. Below are a few examples.
Hours To Days
- convert a graphical mockup to XHTML/CSS
- adjust a page layout / functionality via CSS / jQuery
Weeks To Months
- create a unique site design that matches the branding & identity of the client's business
Months To Years
- create a custom built content management system to serve a specific client's need
So simply put, with these ranges in mind, the client then just takes the rate and multiplies that by the associated scope range (i.e. project schedule). So ya, a client asking a web designer to take their already created graphical mockup (i.e. Photoshop file) and convert it to a Squarespace template for $200 is fairly realistic, assuming it's fairly simple of a design, because it is something that can be feasibly be done in a day. If it's a complex design though then the designer might charge $500 to $1000 depending upon how many days he has to work on it.
On the flipside though, if a client asks for a designer to build them a unique design that matches the branding & identity of their business but expects it to be done in a day or two for just $500, then this is a completely unrealistic request. Just the initial process of sitting down with a client, connecting with them, and discovering their creative needs for their website, can easily take a week to two weeks in itself. In effect, it isn't the actual development that is taking the time so much as the discovery and planning of the website itself. For example, normally for me, a unique design takes at least a month (so $5000 at my $1250/week rate) with the first two weeks spent in communications discovering and planning the creative needs and details of the project. The third week finally sees a rough foundational design evolving and the final week or two is applying the details to that design.
YOUR FEEDBACK
So if you're a professional in the web industry, what's your take on the above? Does this seem simple and straightforward to you? Or do you feel it still wouldn't accurately fit you within it, based upon what you do and how you do it? If not, I'd love to hear suggestions on ways to reword the above. Note though, as I said earlier, it has to be done in such a way that it is simple to understand and yet flexible enough to meet the needs of any professional in the web industry.