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157 Comments
- psud0, on 10/05/2008, -5/+119Haha ... Dugg for the title.
- falcon1, on 10/05/2008, -1/+110Was that just a long ad basically saying hire my company, and forget about freelancers? What a waste...
- inactive, on 10/06/2008, -2/+91Sorry, I'll take a freelancer with a solid portfolio over some "firm" any day of the week.
- KloroFormd, on 10/06/2008, -2/+71I know a site who contains a page whose bandwidth is not great.
- pyrator, on 10/06/2008, -1/+63Several years ago some guy who ran a specialized second hand car company wanted a nice web site done. He asked me how much a web site cost to develop. I asked him what he wanted on it and how much information it should carry. He said he didn't know and just wanted to know the price of a website. I said it really all depended on what he wanted done. Just give tell me how much it costs he asked.
I asked him how much a car cost. He asked what kind of car. I said you know, four wheels, some windows and an engine. Yeah but what size engine, what make etc. I said I don't care, just tell me how mauch a car costs.
In the end his nephew did him a website for £50. It looked sh*t. - xB4R7x, on 10/06/2008, -11/+64I like turtles.
- litheon, on 10/06/2008, -1/+51I have a friend who knows a guy whose daugher's sister's uncle's former roommate made this website that's expriencing the digg effect.
- drunkmuppet, on 10/05/2008, -3/+49I hate the fact that I helped create a gaming website for a CSS clan using tools like phpnuke and phpbb and now my family thinks I can create awesome websites from scratch. The phrase "I have a friend who knows a guy whose son does websites." is actually quite annoying...
- northa, on 10/05/2008, -6/+39This is nothing more than a weak sales pitch. Some people aren't qualified to build websites? Some people aren't qualified to drive a car or carve a turkey. So what?
- DeathJux, on 10/06/2008, -2/+32Judging by your past comment history, I am inclined to believe you may have an unhealthy obsession with terrapins.
Please, seek medical attention before your obsession turns into crippling zoophilia. - inactive, on 10/05/2008, -12/+40- Tom, have ever had sex with a homosexual?
- No! But I had sex with a man who had sex with a homosexual. - Rotzooi, on 10/06/2008, -0/+25Wow, that was lame.
- moges, on 10/06/2008, -2/+25Honest suggestion here: over price your services.
Tell people you can't do a website for less then $500 a page. Thats right, per PAGE. That price doesn't include anything dynamic. Thats static page price. If they OK that, then great, you made yourself a couple of grand. Also point out in the initial meeting that design and website creation are different things. Its $500 per page for creation, not for design. If they want you to design the look of the web page, that costs extra (again, price is high). If they don't like it, don't budge. If its not worth it to them, its not worth it to you.
I found that this is the only way to stop getting jobs from people that don't really know what they want. You don't put $3000 up for a basic web-page without a clear indication of what you want. I feel bad sometimes when I tell people this, but then I remember the last job I did on the cheap because it would be 'quick and easy'. I ended up taking a lower pay rate then a rookie McDonalds chef after I worked out how much time was spent on the project. - HardD99, on 10/06/2008, -4/+22100 diggs and its down? sheesh
- passedoutghost, on 10/06/2008, -0/+16And not just a problem with email. My parent's are like pimps. Any time something happens to a family friend's computer or they have a legal problem (I do law....embarrassing I know), they'll always say "Oh my son knows about _____, he'll do it for you." Sometimes it gets really annoying.
- IllBeBack, on 10/06/2008, -2/+16"Wow... all these years I thought the expression was 'for all intensive purposes.' "
Common mistake among non-readers. - metalgel, on 10/06/2008, -5/+18FTA:
That guy
“Hey, you know anyone who can build a website?”
“Actually, my co-worker’s brother does web design. Want me to get his number?”
I got my first business through a personal connection. No proposal. No sales pitch.
At the time, I didn’t recognize or appreciate the ease of it all. Soon enough, I was snapped up by an entrepreneur with a start-up company (BrowserMedia, a WashingtonVC asset) and got to work side by side with numerous talented individuals. Being part of an ace team was the way to learn.
It’s a different landscape
Building websites “today” is all but completely different. Between the eCommerce, blogs and wikis, social networking, forums, content management, shopping carts, audio/video, search, and server/hosting, there are many moving parts to integrate into a cohesive presentation. We haven’t even scratched the surface of user interface design, studying analytics, search engine optimization (SEO) or marketing sites post launch. A professional web design firm can provide your company with solutions to all of these challenges.
But, I’m trying to save money
Can you still hire someone to build your website the old way?
Yes. Well technically, yes.
These days, there are more than enough freelance web designers and programmers out there. In a lot of cases, they are willing to drop their hourly rates to fight over work. However, this doesn’t mean you’re going to get a great site. Most freelancers are good at either programming or design. If they are good at programming, they tend to be good at using one or two languages or integrating a handful of software tools. Even designers tend to be better at Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flash. Chances are this isn’t how they will portray themselves to you. Nobody wants to talk about their strengths versus weaknesses. You’ll need to hope their exact talents match your exact needs. Either way, chances are they aren’t an expert in everything.
Quarterbacks and Linebackers
Finding someone who can do it all isn’t realistic. It’s like trying to lead your baseball team in pitching and hitting; like trying to play quarterback and line backer at the same time. At a certain (low) level of competition, it is done. However, in the big leagues when you’re practicing eight, ten or more hours a day and playing games, there simply isn’t enough time to be great at everything. There simply isn’t enough time to learn all the plays and perfect their execution. Your coach expects you to pick something and be an all-star at it, to specialize.
Having a team is a good thing.
Experience
Nothing can replace industry experience. Books are great. College teaches responsibility and the learning process among other things. But, nothing replaces actual hands-on learning. This especially comes from year after year watching trends, reading and doing, making mistakes and learning from them, and being around colleagues with different specialties.
That is the key difference between hiring a professional company and a friend of a friend. Individually, the people are more experienced, have a broad understanding, and a specialty. Collectively, the team is better prepared to meet the challenges of your site and rise to the occasion. - dawnraid101, on 10/06/2008, -4/+14Ok Google cache : http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:8PLtVNzsfz4J: ...
- peterredding, on 10/06/2008, -0/+10I know a guy who has a site that's on a server that's a bit rubbish.
- poet, on 10/06/2008, -0/+9Rachel, I assume you are a man?
- jellygraph, on 10/06/2008, -1/+10haha, this is so true
- tiuk, on 10/06/2008, -1/+10Dugg for recognizing your mistake hopefully changing your ways in the future. Now if we could just talk to those people who say "I could care less".
- linagee, on 10/06/2008, -1/+10Just imagine what you could do with a beowulf of freelancers! And if they were all hooked up and cooperated!
- DeathJux, on 10/06/2008, -2/+11*whoosh*
- scotchegg78, on 10/06/2008, -0/+8Interesting if you like reading the obvious
- Murdats, on 10/06/2008, -0/+8the people who know a guy who has a son who does websites?
- Theycallmetak, on 10/06/2008, -0/+7Like what? Tomantha? Tombecca? Tomboy?
- Insolent, on 10/06/2008, -2/+9How do you know Tom isn't a girl? You nameists.
-Rachel - jamesdew, on 10/06/2008, -1/+8I had a similar conversation with a guy who owned a garage. He decided eventually he wanted pictures of his trucks and one of them to go broooooooom and drive across the page when you first arrived at the site.
Strangely enough I was not too fond of the idea but that's what he wanted and he loved it. Later I realised my design skills were not improving any more so I got out of the website game. - ziromix, on 10/06/2008, -1/+8urgh. i hate that about 70 of the 100 diggs were people that probably said "LAWL" out loud when they read it.
- kingfoot, on 10/06/2008, -3/+9no it just means vd for everyone!
- spectxim, on 10/06/2008, -0/+6Seems rather hypocritical.
' That kid a company hired through a friend sucks compared to the new hot product that I'm selling even though I remember being that kid at one point and loving it. But that's ok because somehow that -kid- that was me is now the expert attempting to degrade others starting out in hopes of bring more skill level to my own product?'
uh huh.. - absentmindedjwc, on 10/06/2008, -1/+7ugh... it is ***** like you that take up a whole project cost :p
I charge anywhere from $3k for simple database development, to around $8k or $9k for a moderate CMS. I am amazed how many clients just HAVE to have a website now, but are not willing to pay the cost... - absentmindedjwc, on 10/06/2008, -0/+6idiots like you..... when will you learn that rich = all the women you want
- linagee, on 10/06/2008, -0/+6I'm sorry, you just lose all credibility at all when your web site reverse resolves to a crappy ad page.
whitecapstudios.com?
(nslookup graphics.net, nslookup the IP.) - JonHs, on 10/06/2008, -5/+11I know a site that needs a mirror.
- Glo0, on 10/06/2008, -0/+5Ahh snap. If only it was parents that do that. Even friends of friends do the same. It never happened when i was a freelance designer though.. Only now that i work as a designer all day do people want to me to make them quick and simple sites, with more features than IGoogle. in my 4 hours of free time i get in the evenings.
- inactive, on 10/06/2008, -0/+5Selling websites was easy? Maybe mildly easy.
But tell me 1 web designer who has gotten rich doing it. - DesdinovaEL, on 10/06/2008, -2/+7Its an ad. Don't read.
-abc - DeathfireD, on 10/06/2008, -1/+6I get most of my work by word of mouth from family and friends. 40% of the time the work is worth it however it takes far longer then the person expects and it also costs them far more too.
As for doing work for a family member, ALWAYS give them your highest rates first before sitting down or even discussing what they want. This is the only way to filter out the family members who want your services from the ones who are just using you for a good deal. If they accept your rates then determine how big the project is going to be. Then you can lower the price to whatever you feel would match the project. Don't mention the price change till your almost done or else they will start tossing other things they want done on the site. In the end this not only makes them feel better knowing they wont owe you over $2k worth of work for a small site but at the same time you just filtered out several other cheap family clients that may have been looking for a major site to be done for $400 or less. This is the only way I've found that works when dealing with family or family friends. - metapop, on 10/06/2008, -1/+5how did Tom answer that non-question?
- Kyan, on 10/06/2008, -1/+5It's easy to talk to them - they actually care.
- oblique63, on 10/06/2008, -0/+4unfortunately that's the response that's usually given when someone just has a 'problem with their email,' and I've been on the other end of that one way too many times...
- dogged, on 10/06/2008, -2/+6For example, some people know how to design a pretty website, others know how to survive being dugg.
- xB4R7x, on 10/06/2008, -1/+5It was a little experiment... See which articles the comment "I like turtles." would get the most diggs on. I was just curious. There is no terrapin obsession, but I appreciate the concern.
- linagee, on 10/06/2008, -1/+5Face it, you're providing face time. If they wanted no face time they could have the whole web site done for $2.00 in India.
- Kyan, on 10/06/2008, -2/+5Ok, you know the guy. The guy has a daughter and the daughter has a sister. So, really, skip the daughter, since the daughter's sister is also a daughter...
Her uncle, aha, so, skip her altogether, you know a guy whose brother's former roommate made a website...
You -> friend -> guy -> guy's brother -> guy's brother's roommate...
Hmmm.... - poet, on 10/06/2008, -2/+5Isn't it funny when ignorant people attempt at stringing together hierarchal identifiable traits and end up being more redundant than the Department of Redundancy Department?
- assasin, on 10/06/2008, -1/+4It's TO all intents and purposes.
It's a contract law term - inactive, on 10/06/2008, -1/+4"I could care less" makes no ***** sense at all, damn ***** has no logic behind it. It really does make me angry inside. I COULDN'T CARE LESS if anyone finds this comment annoying or stupid, well actually I could care less, but you get my point...
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