Dollars and Sense

More and more these days so called designers are charging slightly more than the price for a happy meal to design (and many times even code) entire sites. At the end of last year while redesigning my portfolio for 2010 I also made a number of philosophy based changes, and increasing the general cost of all my services was one of them. I’m here to explain the thought process behind this change and why I feel the design community as a whole needs to wake up and value their work a bit more.

Roots:

Let’s start with the main problem in the design community in general — unbelievably below-value pricing of work and services. You don’t have to go very far to see those doing the hiring – be it single individuals or companies and startups — seeking entire sites both designed and developed for way below value. Many times this means budgets of less than $200 (USD). As much as that makes little sense to expect an entire site put together for essentially nothing, it’s even more confusing to see the massive amount of people willing to do work for prices like this.

Shifting Away

So with 2009 coming to a close I made the personal decision of raising all my services prices up. 2009 was by far my slowest year in terms of number of clients and projects, but what I discovered as I looked back at the year and previous years was that I was generally under-valuating my time, work, and effort, and letting clients drag on projects that were essentially “finished” to delay payment. So that $500 dollars I charged at the start of the project (and expected to get two weeks later)? I would get it two months later, and at that point it would essentially be worthless. (You wouldn’t want your employer to give you your check for last weeks work two months from now right?)

Most design studios regardless of size will charge companies (big or small) a few thousand dollars at minimum. I’d say the client would probably be looking at requiring a minimum budget of $3-$5K to go to just about any small design studio. (A friend of the family once paid $15K for a company site.) The best part? Most design studios split work amongst the employees — so one person designs the layout, another may strictly do the logo, another the html/css, and finally someone else to implement a backend system. So why is it that when a freelance designer seeks more than a couple hundred dollar it appears to be way out of line with what everyone else is charging?

This is why I feel I was justified to raise my prices across the board. I am taking on the responsibility of an entire design studio while balancing going to school and doing whatever else I want. Do I think I’m the best solution out there? Absolutely not. What I do believe is that I should be compensated for my time and effort, and if that means fewer clients because my services look expensive to an outsider who can go to any design forum and get things done for $50 bucks, I don’t really care. I will no longer allow myself to worry about what competition is offering services for, because you either want to hire me or not.

So what exactly are we looking at for 2010? First, I’m all about flat fees. Personally I believe hourly rates do not work in this industry (at least for freelancers). Everyone works at different paces, and generally clients will want the fastest turnaround possible while demanding quality. In addition you have to remember that as a freelancer you are essentially like the guy at work who runs around and does everyone else’s job but gets paid only for the X amount of hours of work without taking into account everything you do. See what I’m saying?

If you are interested in hiring me (which I hope at least some are) there are a few things to keep in mind. For individuals (you there looking to redesign your blog) you are generally looking at a minimum of $800 for a full site design (that’s design & code & WordPress integration or other CMS if required). Companies (regardless of size) should expect to pay a bit more — between $1-$3K depending on project size, requirements, and features for a full site design. Smaller projects like single page design, WordPress porting, just code, or logos will be much less and will vary by project specifics, so simply send me an email and we can discuss.

A Plea

More importantly the overriding point of this post was not to dive into every detail of the cost of my services but to encourage the community and industry in general to get with it and put a higher value on your services.

To other designers & developers: Competition is one thing, but sub $100 dollar sites, $10 logos, etc and etc are all ridiculous. The economy sucks no matter where you are (for the most part) and $100 isn’t worth shit no matter how old you are (I remember when I was 13 and thought that first $200 check was like winning the lottery). Base your prices off of how long you’ve been doing what you’re doing and how much time and effort goes into each project. If it only takes you 20 minutes then your stuff probably does suck and maybe $50 is too much for you, but for the most part there are talented and creative individuals that are not being fair to themselves.

To the clients doing the hiring: You get what you pay for. Just because you can find someone in some remote country that you can not really understand (or trust) put together a site for you for less than $100 doesn’t mean it’s the best option. Look for someone that really works for you and remember that whether you are just launching a web presence for the first time or you are getting redesigned for the 20th time, a site is a valuable investment. As someone who spent $950 for an ad at Smashing Magazine back when i was 17, I know what it means to spend money to make money. Whoever you end of hiring remember they are providing you with a service you can not take care of yourself, so be sure you are being fair to them and be open minded when it comes to pricing.