Pricing 101, Part 1
Once in a while, I get interesting emails from some interesting visitors who are interested in my services or simply interested about this blog.
Sounds interesting for an intro? You be the judge.
Mario is such a visitor. And I personally find my email exchanges with him will make for a good topic of discussion, which is about pricing your services.
This is a two-part article series. For this part, I just want to share with you my email conversations with Mario and maybe offer a few explanations so that you will be guided accordingly. In Part 2, I’ll share my personal opinions on the topic of Pricing. If you are a freelancer and you are still confused about Pricing, the next part should shed some light.
Synopsis: Mario wants to know how much I would charge for making a “simple website” for the software products he is planning to sell. Of course, if you are following this blog, you already know that I don’t give a quote out of thin air. One quick reply to the email inquiry and I was finally able to convince him to elaborate a bit more about his project. Thus, Mario wrote:
1. Purchaser should go to paypal.
2. When approved to purchase, I need to put an agreement that it can only be used per computer. I have sample of this.
3. Download the programs and documents to desktop where instructions on how to load to SAP is included.
4. A way to track the people purchasing the program.
Another thing. I want to put a book instruction and the programs on a CD to sell to places like Fry’s electronics or Amazon. I used SNAG-IT for the pictures on my documentation.
At least now, I can breath. A series of inhale-exhale exercises and a five-minute nap later, I sent him a reply:
1. Web Design and Development
2. SEO so that your site will be visible to the search engines
3. PayPal setup
Have you prepared your marketing copy already? Do you have some articles related to the product you are selling?
Please be informed that most of the text and graphics should be provided by you
12:00 noon, the following day: Time to get serious with business emails. I got this cute response:
I chuckled at the thought of that email, but of course such an honest and downright frank email deserves a reciprocal honest and downright frank business reply.
Here comes an advice …on pricing… on my website… and on my competition. That’s reason enough to be thankful for.
My intent is to use the Filipinos to earn a living thru contract. And you were the first one that I think I can help. But you need to be sure of your prices. There are Indian companies that only charge $10 an hour. They all have their templates. Do the same. Prepare for your next client. Make your web more friendly and put samples.
Regards,
Mario
And finally, it’s got to be my way.
Thanks for your kindness and your suggestions about my website. I guess, the Philippines would be a better place if there more people like you who are willing to help his fellow Filipinos.
And yes, I am quite sure with my price. I can assure you that I have done projects much higher than that. As for my global competitors, I am quite aware of their prices, but I don’t have to worry about that.
Many thanks,
Carlos Velasco
There you have it, the email exchanges that prompted me to write an article on pricing. Stay connected for the next series.
[...] Based on Mario’s emails, yes I did. But that’s his opinion. Despite the fact that I pointed him to the websites I made where I charge even three times that amount, he’s still unconvinced. You can read the whole email exchanges here. [...]