Hi,
I designed several web sites in the past, but it was part of my employment. Recently I was asked to design web site as a freelancer.
This site is for the small cafe and it will have menus and specials, maybe several photos of the place.
Following are several questions I would like to ask you:
1. Should I whrite proposal for the site and what has to be in it
2. How much should I charge for it ( I locate in Jersey) and I realize you can't give me an exact figure
3. How can I design a menu specials page so the owner of the cafe will be able to enter specials himself.
From my knowledge, I'm not allowed to answer your question about the price you should charge, as that would be known as "price-fixing" and that's illegal... I'll get some links edited into this message later.
Anyway, regarding questions 1 and 3:
1. Should I whrite proposal for the site and what has to be in it
***ANSWER: Yes, I think you should. It is always best if the client knows exactly what he/she is getting and for what price, and what the price is for extra work. That always avoids confusion, and is better for both parties.
3. How can I design a menu specials page so the owner of the cafe will be able to enter specials himself.
***ANSWER: I would suggest using SSI. Then, the owner can edit a text file and it will be automatically placed into the page.
1. yes it is very important to give a proposal so you may show the client what you can do. the client will not trust you until you show him something for it. for example draw a picture of what the page will look like, like this: http://www.carib.com/cafelajoya.jpg
2. The prices are something you have to decide. since i dont know what they charge for web design in NJ, but figure out a price that is not too demanding. ask yourself: are you good? are you really good?
a trick: since the client always likes to know what it will cost him beforehand, offer packages that include several features like:
"this package offers DHTML, JavaScript, CGI,etc., but the other package does not and so is cheaper, etc."
3. this is somthing for you to decide, since i dont know how you are designing the page.
a clue: use text menu's since the client does not want to redesign the intire page.
hope this helps,
PS. look at other web site designer pages. see theyre prices and dont be afraid of copying theyre method.
Everytime I am approached about creating a site I sit down with the person and we talk about what exactly they want, what they need, and what would be best for their business. In a way what I provide is consulting not only creation. But for that you have to have an understanding of internet business.
As for how much you should charge I can tell you what I would charge. Depending on how much custom graphics I must create a purely informative website as you describe I charge anywhere between $100 and $500. Sure if you made a purely informative site for say Johnson and Johnson you'd make alot more but you have to understand small businesses have financial limits. For interactive sites, ie sites where I have to write some scripts, my minimum fee is $1000. Think of how many hours it takes to make the site? A site like you describe in my opinion is a 10 hour job. So charge accordingly.
Now as to how to make it so he can update his own site. You could train him but from experience some people are not compatible with even learning HTML. The most efficient method would be to use SSI and Perl. On the "specials" page I would use SSI to include a separate file that lists the specials. Then create and password protect a perl script and stick it in a "Admin" directory. Then the owner can access the script from his browser and be prompted with some input fields that would then automatically generate the new included file for the specials page.
Bookmarks