My grandfather does alot of business with certain companies and today he gave me the idea to start creating and managing sites for them. I think I have plenty of experience when it comes to this. I've been doing my own sites for a while now. This also means more work for DP members! (I can hire logo designers for example) So I have no experience with having clients like this. My questions are.. What's the going price for setting up websites for people? What would I charge? I'll be using Joomla! on some sites for example, and I'll being doing some seo and graphic work. Also, how would I charge them when they need me to update their site in say.. 2 months? For example, changing the content on one or two of their pages.. I'd just like to know pretty much how to handle clients like this and how much I should be charging! Thanks
I offer a similar service. If they stick to one of the twenty or so templates I use, I charge between $300-$500. I allow some modifications to the template such as changing the header to their logo and such but not much. They have to provide all content including graphics, images, and text. Upon completion I give them an faq on how to maintain their site and one hour of training. If they choose to have me maintain their site it's $50 bucks per month with no roll-overs. If they don't choose any updates to their site in a month, then too bad, they lose that $50 and still owe me $50 the next month. Maintenance agreements are annual contracts with no cancellations allowed. If they don't want to sign a contract then updates are $40 per hour which is less than half the average rate from web designers. I also offer to host their site for $43 annually paid up front. I host it on my shared server. Get everything in writing and have your plan in place before ever meeting with a client. If they want a more custom look I charge $800 or more. Most companies charge double or triple what I do. Get everything in writing, no exceptions! I don't care how well you know someone, put it in writing or you'll wish you did! If you're not used to business to business sales, you might have a tough time with this. I have 8 years experience in business to business sales and the clients still try to work me. Consider hiring outside sales people on a commission basis only, if you have no business experience (which it doesn't sound like you do, no offence intended). Make sure your sales people are armed with sales materials you put together for them. Good luck and feel free to pm me if you need any more advice. I don't really feel like giving out the rest of my business model to the general public.
Good advice from long blog. I would also suggest you call around or search for other companies that are doing what you are doing. Pose as a customer and get their pricing lists. This will give you a good foundation for your own pricing. Also, as said above - put everything in writing. If you need help with this - find a local SBDC in your area - their services are free and can help you set the business up.
What's the going price for setting up websites for people? What would I charge? I'll be using Joomla! on some sites for example, and I'll being doing some seo and graphic work. This is depend on the complexity of the job.The based price is always $200. Also, how would I charge them when they need me to update their site in say.. 2 months? For example, changing the content on one or two of their pages.. The cost is count per day such as $50/day
Thank you all. I do want to give good deals since I am new to the business and with no real reputation. $50 a day for whenever I need to do some work on someone's site sounds reasonable. I'm taking y'alls advice and running with it. Thanks
You should offer more than one option for them, like create maybe 5 premade(yet can be edited to personalize them) layouts and then offer a total 100% custom made layout of course at a higher cost than the premade. Also offer them seo and content writing as well. Then perhaps offer to help keep their sites updated for a small fee. Good luck!