To People Seeking Freelance Web Design (Anywhere)
June 25, 2009
I didnt write this but I read it on craigslist
“I’m not trying to rag on anyone, I just think that individuals seeking website design should read this as food for thought and consider it when formulating their budget for a design job.
People don’t really understand what’s involved in making a web page, and that’s what holds a lot of freelance designers back … I had an interview with a guy that ran a photography company for weddings, he wanted a shopping cart, subdomains for clients, client logins and a flash portfolio … when I told him it was a $3000 job he looked at me like I was demented. But it IS that expensive for stuff like that. Now I didn’t actually quote him 3K I quoted him $1200, but the reaction was the same. Some people think they are going to get a nice web page for $50 – $100 … it doesn’t work that way.
Even something basic, let’s say a ten page site with a custom logo, a drop down menu, custom graphics and a Paypal shopping cart. That would take just about 40 hours total. 100/40= 2.5 … are they telling me that my talent and skill is only worth $2.50/hr? They don’t realize that’s what they’re saying, but THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE SAYING … it’s very frustrating.
So please, please, please … if you post here, looking for someone to design your business or personal web page realize a couple things first:
1. You’re paying for someone’s talent, talent that took time to develop, they are artists.
2. The going rate for a graphic designer is $30-$45 and hour — NOW THIS IS CRAIGSLIST so we don’t expect to be paid the going rate, but you should at least know what it is.
3. Even the smallest, itty bittiest, 5 page no frills boring website takes about 10 hours to design, debug and polish for release. Think really hard about what you think a website can do for your company and then think about 10 hours of YOUR time and what you think it should be worth. A good rule of thumb would be ABSOLUTELY NO LESS THAN $15/hr
Thanks for reading.
