Jump to content

From Zero to Hero in just two months


zarenya

Recommended Posts

Most recently I was approached by two clients both of whom were scammed to their last dollar by a website designer con artist.

 

The first was a real estate agent that paid a company lots of money to design them a real estate property listing website. After a 4 month battle with their current website company, the dejected clients were referred to me by a mutual friend. I kinda feel sorry for them because they forked out so much money for a website that never materialized.

I setup a meeting with them and pitched to them what I could do for them. They were immediately blown away at my proposal. The next came to price and I unfortunately had to give them a discounted rate because they had depleted all their funds with previous web company. All is good and their holding page is live Space To Let and the site to come in a month from now.

 

The next client is my friend's girlfriend who sells costume jewellery, shoes, bags, beads, sunglasses etc. and she paid a female con artist $600 USD in three increments for an e-commerce (WooCommerce Wordpress) platform. All the con artist lady did was install Wordpress and a template. She did not load any products. The con artist women has tormented my client by turning vicious and hacking into email accounts, destroying websites.

I, out of the goodness of my heart eventually had to accommodate them on such short notice. I am finding this a challenging task building my first WooCommerce Wordpress Template.

 

So I would like to know: "Do you reduce your price to get new clients" or Do you take a loss if your price is not right!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on my workload - I wouldn't turn down a well-paying job for a cheap one, but I've lowered prices in order to get a job, when getting the job was important to me. - The ol' supply and demand issue....

 

But then - I'm doing this for fun and not for a living, so my playing field is laid out much different than that of someone who earns his/her livelihood with designing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like Andrea said, it depends on the client, my workload, and how much of a difference between my regular rate and my discounted rate. I have offered discounted rates in specific situations, like for example if the project seemed interesting and if it seemed like I had a good opportunity to make something I could put in a portfolio, or if it was a family friend looking for something small.

 

Overall, though, since I do make a living off web design, I try to avoid doing discounted work. In many cases it's not worth my time, or I'll offer some sort of compromise that will enable to charge less, like working from a pre-made template rather than custom building/designing something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I would like to know: "Do you reduce your price to get new clients" or Do you take a loss if your price is not right!

 

Another factor to consider is how good you are ... if you are really good at what you do, then don't short change yourself. Unless of course, you need the work!

 

:)

 

That said, I have always found that the bargain hunting clients ARE always the most demanding and tend to be a pain in the butt; they seem to not value your time. Probably because you are not valuing your own time.

 

So if you need the gig or the project is very interesting for your portfolio or because you will be able to jump into some new technology (ex: your first HTML5 website) ... then sure. But be careful.

 

Stefan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must be honest and I openly admit that I enjoy the web developing far more than Graphic Design. I run two jobs concurrently and the Web Design business is my baby!

I am in a very unique position when it comes to the Web Design profession - predominantly controlled by the male folk in our country. My Portfolio has grown over the past 15 years and I am very lucky if I get one website every two months. My portfolio speaks for itself and I have gotten high praise from satisfied clients.

 

There has been a slump about three months ago where I had no work, but thankfully now I have guaranteed work up until December.

 

There is the odd occasion that a client would demand updates, a client financially stable and would always negotiate a cheap rate for maintenance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Sometimes the word of mouth advertising you get from an

ecstatic, well-satisfied customer is worth far more than

the discount you provide. Just something to consider.

 

(Of course warn the client that the deep discount was

only for her, so don't share that info in referrals.)

 

Perhaps you can work out a compromise or barter. For

instance, charge the higher rate, but if she can get

you another full-pay customer, or design a special

piece of jewelry for you, or some other barter--like

proofread for you for a set amount of time (you did

misspell jewelry), then provide the discount.

 

Stefan gave excellent advice. My post is to give some

ways you can maintain your high value and still offer

a discount.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps you can work out a compromise or barter.

 

I'm currently building a new website for the scuba center we dive with on vacation - for 4 each free dives for hubby and me next year on the island!!!

 

Of course, I don't do websites for a living, it's what I do for fun now and what I want to do when I grow up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...