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Possible side job - any tips?

November 6th, 2009 at 03:50 am

An acquaintance called me today and asked if I'd be interested in setting up a web site for their business. It's a service business, so they aren't selling any products on the web site - it would just be informational, with a description of services, pictures, references, etc.

I've never done this type of work before, other than setting up our own website for our farm. I'm kind of proud of what I came up with there, but it's not the fanciest web site either. I have had people compliment me on it, though, so I'm considering taking on this job. Naturally, since I'm me, I start thinking of the reasons NOT to do it first. Things like I'm not 100% confident on all the ins & outs of setting something like this up and I don't really know how to charge for my services. And then the voice on my shoulder says why not? You can check what others charge to get an idea of an appropriate fee. You've explained already that you haven't done this before for hire, and this person was okay with that. You can ask others for help when you're not sure how to do something.

I'm taking a few days to think it over, check pricing, and decide. Anyone have any tips?

Posted in Big Plans (and not so big ones too) | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Possible side job - any tips?”

  1. fern Says:
    November 6th, 2009 at 01:09 pm 1257512961
    1257512961

    Would it be safer to charge by the hour in case you run into unexpected glitches that take longer than expect to fix? You could still give them a rough estimate of how much it would cost, based on your own estimate of how many hours it will take, but still leave you some wriggle room in case it becomes more involved.

    I don't think they would have asked you if they didn't have confidence in you, and i'm guessing they've seen your farm website....so go for it! good luck!

  2. Petunia Says:
    November 6th, 2009 at 01:21 pm 1257513710
    1257513710

    Hey, go for it! If this were me, I'd probably price on the low end. . . because it would be like training for me. . . and I'd tell them that too. But that's just me. . .

    You could also call around and find out how much others charge. I did this when I tutored last year - used Craig's list to find out how much others were charging. I kept my rate pretty low compared to what I saw - for a lot of reasons - they were training me, wanted the friendship more than the tutoring, etc. In the end I learned a lot about how I would approach tutoring if I did it in the future. . . and the tutoring money paid for our annual Memorial weekend camping trip.

  3. frugaltexan Says:
    November 6th, 2009 at 04:17 pm 1257524251
    1257524251

    I think you should go for it! Like Petunia said, I also might charge on the low side with the understanding that it's a "first timer" charge. But if they want you to do more later, or reccomend you to others, you'd charge more. More experience= higher rate.

  4. FightingSplurging Says:
    November 6th, 2009 at 04:43 pm 1257525801
    1257525801

    of course with practice you will get better, but dont let that keep you from trying. who knows, this may be your passion. good luck

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