Hello all,

I am about to graduate highschool in the year 2009 and my interest are based on web design. I started web design at a very early age, dating back to 2005 creating websites for family and family friends. I have a few questions.

What is the average pay for a freelancer monthly?
I have heard freelancers get paid this much per website:
$1200 USD
or
$20-$40 USD / hour

How do you write a quote?
Every web design service has a "Request a quote" section and I am curious what they write back. I studied business letters during my early years in high school however i am unsure if that applies to this certain topic. Please include length and template with descriptive sentences.

Is there any certain laws?
I live in Ontario, and i plan on using a company name rather then my full name, must i register this business?

What does the customer expect?
It's quite obvious customers have different expectations, as some have no clue and perspective on the project as others do. I am wondering what kind of coding should be applied? Just the basic website with the requested number of content pages they write in the quote (Strictly html/css)? or is a CMS expected for easy content editing.

Customers contact method
Do customers prefer to talk on the phone rather then emailing back and forth, if so what is the average duration of the phone call. What topics should we review, what he finds interesting? what coding he knows? etc, etc.

I would suggest, that before you start freelancing (or expect to make 20-40 dollars per hour) you try to get a job first, as the experience will help you tremendously. You may be surprised how much you need to learn on a professional level that extends beyond the skills you acquired doing websites for friends and family.

In order to command the 'big bucks' - which is way more than $1200 - you need to know a LOT more than just the kinds of things you probably know now doing sites for family and friends. Web design as a freelancer is not easy money and you have TONS of competition that will sell web sites for $50 !

You need experience, you need a very solid background in several web technologies, and you need to build your portfolio.

Add "You Need an Education" to the list. You'll have a hard time finding a job without a degree. Even with a degree, in this days economy, you'll have a tough time.

It seems to me from your post, that you are "measuring the drapes" of your new business, rather than focusing on what you really need. Are you going to be able to serve potential customers and respond to their needs in a timely and professional manner?

John I'll see if I can tackle your questions. The general answer will be 'it depends'

1. Average pay varies a lot, based on experience and how good a business person you are. You could say the pay ends up being whatever you can get. $20 - $40 an hour is probably reasonable for someone starting out, though in the beginning and until you have a portfolio to show you might have to work for less. Some people will start freelancing by doing a few sites for free or for low cost just to get the work and to be able to show off what you can do. It can also be good marketing in that it begins the word of mouth.

With a set monthly rate you'll want to estimate how long it will take you to complete the job and then multiply to figure how much the entire site will cost. Estimating time can be tricky at first since until you do a few sites it's hard to know how long each will take. Keep track of how long things take you to do so you can estimate better on each successive site. Also you may want to add a few hours to your estimate. Everything ends up taking longer than you think. I'll sometimes multiply by 10% - 20% to come up with a better estimate.

2. The above is basically how I come up with a quote. Multiplying my rates by my estimated time. I tend to be informal and don't have a set quote template. When someone contacts me for work I usually first ask for details about the site. If someone asked for a price right away I offer a very rough estimate of a price range and again ask for more details. The more you know about the project upfront the better you can estimate how long it will take.

My quotes are simple emails where I describe what I understand to be the requirements of the project along with a price for those requirements. I'll explain that if the requirements change the price will too.

3. I would think you don't need to register a business name, but there are advantages to registering one. Here in Colorado it was a simple form and an $8 fee. I'm not sure how it works in Ontario. Look for some government sites to see what's involved and what's required. Odds are you can find what you need with a little searching.

4. Every customer is different. I don't think I've ever had two clients with quite the same expectations. Try not to over think this. Your clients will let you know what they expect as you work with them. Ask them questions when you're first talking to them. Part of what they'll expect is for you to know what the best solution is.

For example most clients won't tell you they need a CMS. What you'd want to do is ask them how often they'll be updating the site. If they don't plan on updating a lot they probably don't need a CMS. What you want to do is get to know a few different CMSs and understand their advantages and disadvantages. Then when a client tells you what they want you can offer the various options.

5. Again this will vary by client. I have some clients who are happy to do everything through email and others who want to talk on the phone more. I generally like to talk on the phone once early on since it gives us a better feel for each other and you can usually get more info quicker. After that I prefer emailing. It'll really depend and vary by customer though.

Phone calls can last as long or as short as you want. I tend to talk more than I really need to on the phone. I often get into general chit chat with my clients, which they seem to like. Some would rather just get down to business.

As far as what to talk about you mostly want to know what they want from the site. What are their goals for the site, what are their expectations, etc. The rest is up to you and the client.

One thing to know is not to worry too much about all of this. You're going to make mistakes along the way. We all did and still do. The trick is to learn from your mistakes. In the beginning I was clueless about how to estimate time. I'd overestimate on one job and lose it because I priced it to high and then underestimate the time for the next job and lost money. I learned quickly to keep track of everything I do and it didn't take too long before I could estimate a project rather accurately.

Just try to learn from everything you do. In the beginning a lot of things seem confusing, but the more you do the less confusing it gets.

Thanks vangogh, its very obvious you put a lot of time and effort replying to my post. You really gave useful tips and hints as well as what to expect in the near future.

Can you also reply with an actual quote you gave to a client? Just to get an idea. *Personal Information Removed Of course*

Thanks again ~

Glad to help.

Like I said my quotes are really informal and simple. I'm not sure there would be much after I removed the personal info. They really aren't anything formal at all. I generally restate what the client is asking and offer a price for the work. Sorry I can't be more specific.

Try not to get caught up in thinking there's a specific way you need to do something like the quote. What you'll find works best is to write one however you think best. Then make it a little better the next time out. In time you'll develop your own process for doing things and you'll find a way to write a quote that works best for you.