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How much should I charge?

by JoMo
11 replies
I just built a point of presence site for a friend's cleaning business for free to help get my web design/marketing business off the ground, and it worked. The next day one of her friends just saw it and wants to talk to me about building their real estate site, but I have no idea what to charge. From what I have gathered I should not charge an hourly rate, but I should do a fixed price for the finished site. Does that make sense?

Should I charge by the page or what? I also want to give them an option of a site/marketing package.



-joel
#charge
  • Profile picture of the author Online Bliss
    Joel,
    In any offline adventures I pursue I always
    spy on my competition. Call them up pretend
    to be a customer and write down their costs.
    Don't feel bad, shopping stores do it and most every other
    successful businesses.

    Good Luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
      Originally Posted by Online Bliss View Post

      Joel,
      In any offline adventures I pursue I always
      spy on my competition. Call them up pretend
      to be a customer and write down their costs.
      Don't feel bad, shopping stores do it and most every other
      successful businesses.

      Good Luck!
      Joel, what online bliss is saying sounds like a good strategy, but I think there is no one better than yourself to determine what your talent and work is worth. Since this is your first project where you will be charging, you may want to do some trial prices. As you move up and prove yourself, your value and hence your prices will increase.

      The best of luck to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author mpeters7
    Why not consider selling not just a website, but a whole online marketing strategy, on a results basis?

    Either sit down with the client and talk through the value of each customer you could bring in, multiplied by the number of new customers you could bring in, or charge a referral fee for each one you bring in?

    If you do it right, you'll end up as a trusted advisor...and a little richer.
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    • Profile picture of the author George185
      I am fairly new to the web design and internet marketing field, but I did this with one of the first sites I built for someone. It is paying dividends. I get 10% of whatever business I send, and the site is for a photographer.
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  • Profile picture of the author JoMo
    If a client contracts me to build a website for their company and I register the URL and host it for them, who "owns" the URL? I am wondering if they decide to go elsewhere with hosting, do they have the rights to that URL, or is it technically mine? Is it legal/ethical to require them to buy it from me when they leave as a transfer fee?



    -joel
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    • Profile picture of the author goldblogger
      You are right. Do not charge by the hour or the page. Charge for the project.

      One of my niches is the martial arts niche. I charge the schools that use my marketing materials and websites a licensing fee each year. If they fail to pay, they lose the right to use my system and website to bring students in their front door. I charge $5400 a year.

      How did I get that fee?

      I am selling dollars for dimes.

      The LIFETIME VALUE for each student is approximately $9000. And the average school brings in 8-10 students a month.

      So $5400 per year is a steal!

      Do not underprice your experience and training. If your marketing and website tactics will pull in 20 leads a month for that real estate agent -- and that translates to 2 sales at $5000 or more per sale. Why under-price yourself?

      And you definitely want to license your stuff. You will own the website and marketing materials.

      Aloha,

      Jason
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      Who Else Wants To Create High-Priced, Physical Products That Make You Thousands of Dollars Each Week?

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  • Profile picture of the author Jamian
    One of the best method is post exact same job on Elance then you'll have some idea!

    Jamian
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  • Profile picture of the author Maddi
    The last website I did for a client for a property management/real estate site, I charged around $800 and that included one year hosting + domain and was wordpress based.

    It depends on what she wants, If its a dynamic website and she wants it updated regularly you could make the site on a cms such as wordpress or joomla and charge more for it compared to a static html website which will be a pain in the back side to update constantly.

    Hope it helps
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    • Profile picture of the author 2stayhome
      Definitely do not charge by the hour or the page. Charge an initial fee to get the site up and running. Then you could upsell packages and benefits such as hosting for a year, a specified amount of changes or new pages per month, any SEO services you felt comfortable doing (or outsourcing), etc.

      It depends on the business and the business owner and you'll be able to charge more if you learn what they really want and feel is valuable to the growth of their business.
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    • Profile picture of the author midasman09
      Banned
      Here's a suggestion;

      Realtors get "New Listings". That's their job. If you use WordPress...your client can go in and add the New Listings THEMSELVES! You can show them how to use the "DashBoard".

      If they want YOU to add New Listings (Photo of 2 plus text description) then you've GOT to add a pretty good fee for your Time & Talent.

      I've stayed away from realtors because of their "persnickety-ness". However, I charged $1500 set up and $250/mo and each New Listing would be $35ea additional, one-time.

      AND...here's a Promotion Technique that "Blew Them Out Of The Water" as far as any competition was concerned.

      I offered to give each New Listing....their Own Web Page with a Sub-Domain (Hostgator) of their address;

      Ex: www.123Main.JonesRealty.com (an extra $50 per Listing)

      And...if they wanted to pay for it...I even gave the New Listing their own Domain and WebPage;

      Ex: www.123Main.com (an extra $150 Per Listing) AND....THIS feature REALLY helped my realtors get Listings (Realtors make money from Property Listings whether they sell it or not. 1 1/2% to 3% just for the Listing. It's split with the sales agency) Property Owners LOVED the idea of having THEIR ADDRESS with it's OWN DOMAIN...on the Majestic Internet. It was something that appealed to their EGO and helped get many High-Ticket Listings and gave MY Realtors an Aura of "Professionalism and Uniqueness".

      Midas Man
      50 Ways to Make $50,000
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  • Profile picture of the author JoMo
    I like the subdomain ideas. I'm not sure if they want that serious of a site or jsut a simple pop, but I will be sure to offer the other as well.



    -joel
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