What's your biggest lessons learned from working with clients?

Question

Let's talk about the unspoken business of coding for a living. Setting standards and expectations.... how to Bill them... getting content... getting access... let's hear your story and what learnt so others can learn from it.

Answer 1

Depends on the client. Billing wasn't an issue (if you're referring to non indie-development/free-lancing). Getting content, some of it was created from scratch. I made a navigation button that was needed for a site using Photoshop which was implemented that the host didn't have. As access was a concern, I did a Web-Master's Role so there was almost 97% of control besides the host provider. Depending on clientel you deal with a variety of people, some more tech-savvy than others. It took at least 30min- hour up to 5 business days to make changes depending on the extent of project/updates. If independent, some will do a small preview of the work of the requested client before charging. Others will charge outright.

There's Upwork, CodeMentor, Patreon, and other sites for free-lancing. I've gotten offer to create a business website for a client, but declined due to time constrictions and other projects.

Answer 2

How should I define pricing because people charge per hour and other freelancers charge based on projects?

I'm new to freelance, but I have an understanding of HTML, CSS, and learning JS.

Currently, reading Jon Duckett JavaScript and jQuery. At the same time earning a certification from Udacity in Front-end Nanodegree.

Thank you in advance for answering my question.

Answer 3

Great insights Apple Blossom - thanks. I don't do any work via Upwork etc. I source all my clients through marketing.

I find with new sites, content is always an issue and slows most timelines in 99% of cases due to client getting you content.

I always get 50% upfront as project deposits before I even write a single line of code.

Consultation time is my biggest learning. we can budget to write the code and build something but forget about the extra hours explaining things to client, setting expectations, making changes, getting feedback, talking them through best practice because everything we build actually reflects on us.

People are always proud of their new sites and someone always asks, "Who built that for to it?"

Answer 4

Hey Saul, I'm of the opinion and practice always charging by project. Clients have certainty of costs and you don't need to disclose or worry about tracking time.

There is a triangle of pricing that is based on quality (how good you are), speed (time it takes you and how urgently clients want it) and price.

You get more profitable when you are fast! Quality will win you reputation and clients. Speed will allow you to take on more projects or have time freedom.

Just don't present completed projects worth $5,000 in 48 hours (unless that was the deal). Space out presenting deliverables to clients in stages so they understand on some level, your expertise and reasonable time being put into their project.

Great question Saul - that's how I run my digital agency.