RE: FN-FORUM: freelancers wanted

date posted 2nd August 2007 22:32

> On 2/8/07 20:36, "steve wilson" [EMAIL REMOVED] wrote:
>
>> There isn't much that can be done about it. All i can say is, the=20
>> guys
>> that
>> are crap and out to take clients for a ride make our jobs (the guys
doing
>> good quality work) more fruitful.

I wouldn't quite agree with that. Especially smaller clients often have
little appreciation for quality and will constantly say something like
"this other guy quoted half your price". You know that=20


Stacey-Lee Wilkinson wrote:
> once a month we have an excuse - what's yours hehe

You'd be surprised.. Check out:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=3D431376



On a more serious note.. This is my 2p on how selling web
design/e-commerce for =A310/hour could work.=20

A person, lets call him Joe Bloggs, wants to make some money...

Joe is a middle aged sales person. He knows nothing about design or web
development. It's likely he has worked at a web development/design
agency for a short time before he got sacked as he was useless.

Joe likes "get rich quick with little effort" schemes and while he was
working as a sales person he was astonished how much people would pay
for design/websites. He did some googling on prices and stumbled across
one of these freelance auction sites such as guru.com.

He then realised that the sort of project his web agency would charge
=A310K for went for about =A31-2K in India and China amongst others. He =
then
set up a virtual office somewhere, just a business address and a post
service, costs about =A350 a month (he is likely to actually work from =
his
bedroom or study at home).

While it is perfectly feasible to outsource work to countries with lower
production costs and still maintain a high standard of work, this is not
a priority for Joe. You see, establishing a good, competent and reliable
network in a place far, far away would demand some knowledge and effort
on Joe's part and this is not what Joe is all about. Also, it would push
up the production cost to maybe =A315 an hour without making any more
profit.

If he charges =A310 per hour it means he pays a maximum of =A35 per hour =
to
the people who actually do the job. That's just my experience of how
most sales people work. He would like at least a 100% mark-up.

The theory is mass production. If Joe can produce 20 websites a month at
=A31000 and have a gross profit of =A3500 per site my little brain tells =
me
that's a GP of =A310K per month. Not bad for a one man band.

This little scenario It's just my little theory on how to sell web
design in the UK (and globally) for =A310 an hour.


Before anyone gets on my case, this is not a business model to
recommend. I hope it doesn't give anyone megalomaniac ideas. I work hard
to create a business, which aims to provide excellence in both design
and technical expertise (so much to learn). People like our fictitious
Joe are ruining it for serious people. Although, if you're good enough
and have enough business sense you will still do well.

Also, not all sales people are pure evil. Some actually care about what
they sell and at least bother to learn the terminology, maybe even the
technology.

Aaah, my wee rant for the day..

Johan