Hi DP folks There are something in my mind and I like to share it with you! Everyday a lot of directory is coming! Directory-owners are making their best effort to promote directories in various ways. Most of them want to make their directory unique with customized templates; owners are releasing free sponsored templates. Investment is growing! My questions are: How much should be the cost of a unique template for personal buisness? a) below $100 b) $100 to $150 c) $150 to $200 d) $200 to $250 e) $250 to $350 f) $350 to $450 g) more! How much should be the cost of a unique template for public release? a) below $100 b) $100 to $150 c) $150 to $200 d) $200 to $250 e) $250 to $350 f) $350 to $450 g) more! Please comments to evaluate the market and sharing your thoughts for promotion of directory market. Thanks
Arguably the best templates are by aspidov But they are around 400USD for quality http://www.realwd.com/portfolio2.html They are quality and in our opinion affordable
I think its difficult to put a price on URL Stand. Certainly aspidov's would be worth that $400USD, but most others probably wouldn't be worth $100USD. It all depends on the quality of the template on offer.
yes thats true aspidov is a good designer! but there are others as well who are providing very good service with affordable price like Balkanboy, vegabond etc. There was a time when there are a few designers but now a lot of compettitors! Few months back I saw someone announcing $400 for a template few days before I saw same person is announcing $250 with logo! Rather promoting somebody or service my intention is to help directory owners to justify what is normal and affordable and not confusing!
Yes you are so right to mention Balkanboy & vegabond they too offer good designs and service and of course there will be others too
So what should be the cost ? Template design price should not be confusing and should be affordable for all directory owners!
The prices are not confusing, it is called 'supply & demand' in a free uncontrolled entrepreneurial market place Company A charges AAA$USD Company B charges BBB$USD Company C charges CCC$USD All are affordable the buyer has to decide on the best price for his needs Business is not a game, but what happens in business nearly always, you get what you pay for You pay 'peanuts you get monkey standard work' We use aspidov because he offers and provides on time a quality product at a quality price I guess that is why his work is affordable
Folks ! I did not mean to start this thread for what price for whom! I just wanted to reach in a conclusion that what is affordable for directory owners and what should be the price !
Yes this is a free market ! So I think there are opportunities for people to judge to search for sourcing! Supply and demand is interrelated of course, but I am not agreed with the term "uncontrolled". If something is uncontrolled then the total system becomes imbalanced. Announcing a $$$ rate in a day and making it half price in the next day indicate an imbalanced manner for a business! Who charge what and who works for whom or from whom who get works is not the main topic or who gets commision for which person's advertising is not the bottomline! The question how we can develop this DIRECTORY COMMUNITY more effectively on DP with a WIN-WIN solution and build a resourceful WWW rather than some craps!
Basicly, design is a service. Service fees should be based on your experience, style of design, and time required for you to complete the job. For example, to make a great design in photoshop it takes 10 hours of pure labor (that is about 2-3 days because no body works all day on the computer, 4-5 hours a day at the most, other time you reboot the computer, open/close programs, read DP, check emails.... blah blah). If you charge $25/hr that rounds up to $250 + 90% of the time you have to revise designs. Clients want it how they think its best, not how you designed it. So you have to consider time and bump some extra $ for it. Sometimes you dont have to revise anything, and that is when you are working with the coolest people like britishguy, mystikmedia and onlinedude... and a few others Then there is coding and integrating. Making just a template is not enough anymore, you have to add some cool mods, extra pages, do something to the search, add some sponsored space to the front page, put sitewide google ads in..... that is time. Lets say 5 hours of pure labor ( 1-2 days ) to make everything beautiful. 5 x $25 = $125. Well, there you are $125+$250 = $375 for a custom skin. rounded up to $400 for paypal fees, coffee, headache and other misc. Same thing goes for publicly released templates So, the answer to your question is "you decide how much you charge", unless your client wants to reveal their budget and pay for your vacation next week. My first phpld skin was www.arcadeforce.com and let me tell you, I did not know what the heck I was doing, i did not know phpld, i was sort of ok with photoshop and I spent at least 3 weeks on making it. do you know how much I charged for it? $150.
Well. aspidov, I am pretty confused about the line "you decide how much you charge" Because I did not post this thread to decide my rate ! I know what can I accomplish for my clients, again I am saying that my intention is a OPEN DISCUSSION to help directory owners for deciding how much should they pay for promoting their directory regarding TEMPLATE I really enjoyed working with people like mysticmedia, aviva, temi, recently alpna. They are very much cool to work with, though I did not yet work for britishguy ! These people are very good businessman and came in this market after knowing exactly what they want and what they can do ! We all know time and again they are proving! But apart from them there are so many directory owners with a little budget but still want to give and get good services! We just cannot overlook them! Your explained rate is kind of ok. Still I want to say that this is a global market and possibilities and talents are everywhere. Suppose you know Microsoft is a USA company but doing a huge outsource from India! Why? This is the real business policy, they are getting a world class quality service comparatively cheap! I work in an Advertising Agency as a creative designer for the last 5 years, during this period I worked for many global companies and learnt a little about the policy and strategy of their marketing. From my experience as designer I just want to say may be $400 is worth for a PHPLD template design indeed but from a directory owners point of view I am not interested to pay $400 for a template only. Rather paying $400 for a template, I can pay less as there are qualified proven opportunity and spend rest of my money in other marketing! What do you think?
i think a quality design worth around 350 - 400$ for a unique Personal site. For a template to be released in pubic no more than $250 (But this is for some really good template) I would say aroun 150 - 200 Thats just how i feel. I design templates as well. I tell people straight up i would charge $250 for the unique design, but i am not as good as aspidov, vegabond, balkanboy, or an0n aka rob. So basically its like the more famous you are the higher your price are ... Famous in my dictionary = best looking, the more professional designer, the one with a good reputation.
I don't think it is right that you say that you are not as good as these guys, never say that about yourself maybe say you are catching them up quickly, it will keep them 'on their toes' I am sure they would never say they were better than you, maybe the difference can be related to other skill sets that these guys have 'which is primarily they are articulate, savvy, business guys' who have experienced the hi's and low's of this business, and there have a very broad based understanding of 'how the net works' suffice to say they are all top designers. Just tell them you have these additional skill sets too But for example I have had many PM's with Rob and none related to design, as he has such a solid array of skill sets, that he his always ready to discuss about, thankfully that sort of approach helps all of us
Here, here dude the guy is humble Please forgive my english I searched my head, for the word but it was not there, now I have added the word 'humble' to my vocabulary Thanks
I think exactly like you. Its up to the client to decide how much they want to spend, and its up to the designer how much they want to charge. You dont want to spend $400 for a template, me neither, but somebody else will. I am sorry, I might be in the wrong thread here, but I dont target average directory owners. I target people who can afford my services, trust me as a person and give good references in future. Not one complained so far There are always people who have little budget, and there are always designers willing to work for that little budget. Thanks all, have to go, got work to do.
Well, you mentioned earlier that design is a service. That means we are service providers! For a good service provider it is absolute necessity to provide good and affordable solution to all sort of clients! We can not just overlook a client with moderate budget! Solution should be TAILOR MADE. A good service provider always treats clients equally. Working with little budget do not drop the quality! It is the freedom of the will and the power of visualisation that brings a good and quality design not money! What do you think?