Business is Personal

Posted by Edwin Lynch on April 15, 2010 in Business Practices, Buyer Beware, email, Spam, website

I was around at a (potential) clients’ office today – sorting out design issues etc. He liked me, I liked him. We’ll obviously work together on his website.

I finally asked for server information – passwords, usernames etc. Always a trust issue, but I need this stuff to be able to build and upload the new website over the old one. The client fumbled around in a filing cabinet and pulled out a file with the relevant info etc.. He told me that he was a little worried. “Why so?” I asked as I sharpened my Staetdler Mars-780 German pencil with in-built sharpening tool.

Aside: I’m one of those people who work with pencil and paper until I absolutely MUST get on a bloody computer. It’s a love / hate thing. I love computers, but hate putting on weight and losing my eyesight.

As I was writing the server info down on a piece of paper, the new client told me what he was being charged for email services, spam protection, domain and website hosting. He showed me a bunch of invoices that made me rethink my whole approach to charging clients.

This person was paying around $A2K for these very basic services. I couldn’t believe it. I pay around A$65 per year for a superior, more holistic service and have never charged more than $500 to clients who have moving images and large files uploaded to their site.

Important Aside: All my clients tell me I undercharge, but I strongly disagree. In one case, an old client insisted I put my price up because I was too cheap. I simply wasn’t in the ballpark for consideration on a job, so I had to increase my quote. I reluctantly put my price up on the proviso that I do extra work on the site . . . Look. I’m no Saint. But I would feel extraordinarily bad about overcharging someone like this. I want my clients to call me again. I want them to be happy. My hourly rate is A$90 but really, at the base of it, I enjoy my job so much that it ends up being much less when I actually get involved in building a website. Weird and unforeseen things always crop up. And I lose myself having fun.

I told him what I pay for the same services personally. A$65 per annum for email, domain name and 50Mb of hosting. Sure I get it wholesale. I double the price for general clients because I do a lot of stuff behind the scenes.

I charge $125 for a basic website (50Mb) with email and .com domain (.com.au domains are more). Clients who want to put PDF files or movies on their server pay more, but I don’t have a single client who pays more than $500pa for email, website, file-space and other server requirements. It’s $140 bi-annually for Aussie domains and I don’t make a cent off those (mainly because I think it’s a rort and can’t justify charging extra on top of that).

This is what I do behind the scenes:
• I bounce email off client servers because it accumulates so quickly and you can run out of space for the actual website.
• I usually bounce email to Gmail, Hotmail or iinet accounts because these have great in-built spam detection software.
• If a company has many different email addresses (eg. info@company.com, johnno@company.com) I set up each email address and bounce mail into the individual’s private account.
• I check the server about twice a year to see if it has enough space and inform the client if an upgrade is needed (People often forget that BLOGS and PDF files take up space).
• I check all client software (Joomla, WordPress, other CMS) email etc. is up to date and if not – I update it.
• I go in and set limits on email accounts and clear out (or forward) clogged up email boxes
• Plus I answer all phone calls (for FREE)

I actually work for my money and it pains me to see others doing less and charging like wounded bulls. To see someone paying A$1K per year merely for email spam and virus protection – when it’s 100% free on Gmail (7Gb file limit and about $5pa. if you want a 25Gb limit) – is beyond me.

Seeing these invoices really made me want to do the right thing by this new client. I understand that companies have employees, overheads and rent to pay, but bad business and money management shouldn’t be taken out on your clients!

I guess my set-up is very different. I work from home and / or with like-minded 3D graphic artist and Designers, so I have fewer overheads and therefore my rates are a lot cheaper. But I’d never charge money for doing nothing.

Business is business?

No! Business is always personal because there are people involved.

‘Nuff said.

Fill in this form if you want a website. I’m happy to meet with you for free – even if you don’t choose me to build your site. I’m a strong believer in what goes around comes around.