Web design, How long, How much? A freelancers guide.

First Contact

Before meeting with a client you should have an outline of the goals of the initial meeting. The goals should be simple and precise.

• Determine project requirements.
• Determine resources available for project.
• Discuss possible problems of project. Offer achievable suggestions where appropriate.
• Determine next point of contact, i.e. quote or proposal deadline date.
• Confirm contact details.

Avoid making any commitments or estimates at the initial meeting, the initial meeting is for gathering information and establishing the credibility of the project only. Anything you say at this point will set the baseline for future discussions. Don’t be pressurized into giving costing’s and estimates at the meeting, even broad spectrum estimates, they will bite back.

How long will the project take?

How long with the project take? Give a precise deadline that you can manage comfortably. It’s your reputation at stake.

• Do not be pressurized into unrealistic deadlines.
• Do not commit yourself to endless revisions. Specify a specific number of revisions of the project before additional fees are incurred.

Ask yourself, "Why is the client hiring me?". The client is hiring you because they either don’t know how to create a web site or they don’t have the time. Either way, you are the project manager, your skills are the commodity, don’t trivialize your expertise and be realistic with your deadlines.

Lets presume the client has asked for something you think is nice and easy. Easy for who? Easy for you, not the client. You might think it’s easy because of your experience in that area, but the client is hiring you because they can’t do it. Never discuss the difficulty of a project, don’t trivialize the effort required and be confident in your ability to complete the task.

How much will the project cost?

Always give an honest and realistic price in your proposal or quote so you have it in writing. When discussing the price always get the final agreement in writing to avoid possible disputes later.

• Don’t undervalue your services.

If the clients budget will not finance the project, modify the project, discuss what the client can achieve with their budget. Maybe the project can be accomplished in stages so spreading the costs!

As project manager you can control the perceived value of the project by offering staged costing’s. This gives the client the opportunity of deciding if a particular feature in the requirement can be negated.

Ask the client if they’d be interested in a payment plan, 50% up front, 25% after the job is half-way completed, and 25% upon project completion.

Fixed versus Hourly rate Charges

There are basically two methods of charging clients, fixed rate or hourly rate. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.

• With fixed rate you get paid a fixed amount for the project, any payments for additional time or variations to the project will have to be re-negotiated.
• With hourly rate you get paid for the number of hours spent on a project irrespective of the length of the project.

Fixed rate advantages

• Efficiency is not penalized.
• You know how much you will be paid for the project.
• The client knows how much the project will cost.
• There is less stress due to time and money constraints as the project progresses.

Fixed rate disadvantages

• Causes freelancers to push clients to get the job done as quickly as possible which causes stress and dissatisfaction on both sides.
• Costs/estimates inflated to ensure a profit. Estimating a job based on initial information can be extremely inaccurate, plus clients tend to expand the initial project.
• Projects experiencing severe delays and unexpected workloads can severely reduce the profitability of a project.

Hourly rate advantages

• You get paid for the hours worked.
• Your payment for client project modifications, revisions and unforeseeable’s is not an issue.
• Your payment because projects overrun their initial time estimates is not an issue (payment wise).
• The client gets finer control of expenses.

Hourly rate disadvantages

• Low incentive to complete the project quickly.
• Low incentive to complete the project on time.
• Actual hours spent on the project more transparent.
• With a tight budget, hours spent on the project may have to be constantly justified.
• May be impossible to accurately estimate the cost of a project.

Which method is best?

I think a combination of both methods has advantages for both parties. Estimate the job, based on the number of hours the project is expected to take, this would be the fixed part of the charges. Should the project be modified by the client and overrun the initial estimate then all further work would be charged on an hourly rate.

Working on Speculation

Work on Speculation or "Spec" is any requested work for which a fair and reasonable fee has not been agreed upon in writing (a contract).

Spec work requires the designer to invest time and resources on a "try before you buy" basis with no guarantee of payment and may seem like a good deal from the clients point of view but, (there’s always a but) professional design is about the creative process needed to produce a custom solution, it’s not like buying a new sofa or car or toaster.

• The common misconception for clients is that the computer and related software is doing all the work.
• Design and the creative process has nothing to do with the computer or the software. The tools simply assist with putting the concept into a concrete form.

In my humble opinion a client requesting spec work is saying:

• I haven’t bothered to look at any of your current work.
• I don’t think you can do what I require.
• My project is not important enough to spend money on.
• My project is not worth the time a professional designer would need to invest in creating a suitable solution.

Overall Spec work;

• is exploitative and unethical, a demand for free design work without of compensation.
• can lead to infringement of intellectual property rights,
• devalues the design and designer,
• is unlikely to meet a client’s objectives.

Finally let me ask you a question. You’ve invested time, effort and money in your career and your skill set. Why would you even consider giving this away for nothing? If you would like to read more on this subject just visit No!Spec.

Graphic Designer vs client video

This video is rated X for foul language (the F word is used a lot).

Other possibilities

Pro Bono

Pro Bono is defined as providing a service without compensation. You donate your services for free or at a fee that just covers expenses. Pro Bono opens the doors for students to get real world experience and add to their portfolio while supporting not-for-profit organizations, groups, schools and clubs.

Fair Exchange

Fair Exchange is basic bartering. No money is involved. You offer your design services to a business in exchange for their services or goods.

Contacts

	Elance Hire, manage and pay experts to do your work.
	Guru the world’s largest online marketplace for freelance talent.
	Sologig Thousands of quality freelance, contract and consulting jobs posted daily
	Peopleperhour allows you to outsource project work online to people operating in a freelance or self-employed capacity, thereby saving you cost and time.