OUR PRICING

My pricing model is somewhat different from most other businesses, from most other web design enterprises. You see, while most businesses focus on how they can make the most money for themselves, my focus is on how can I provide the best value for my clients, while still making it worth my time to do the work.

HOURLY is My Preference. 

Right up front, I will tell you I charge $100 per hour for commercial companies, and give up to a 50% discount for charities, 501(c)(3) organizations, churches, and some good friends.

For those discounts, I like to tell people, “I’m giving you half my work for free.”

Why is hourly my preference? And why do I charge this much? Read on.

Having been a professional computer developer since 1985, I have encountered HUNDREDS of different clients, and by far, the most cost-effective way for almost all clients is to hire me by the hour.  The reason for this is because it gives us tremendous flexibility. It gives us the capability of making any small or large changes without having to go through the rigamarole of issuing change orders and contract amendments.

With me working by the hour, my clients have the power to decide for themselves whether this latest change they want is worth it.

And to date, almost every single one of my clients has been happy with what they have paid for the updates they get.

(Almost, I say? Well, I have had some clients fall victim to other fast-talking salespeople who convinced them to jump ship – I have looked at their websites a while after they jumped, and none of them was any better than what they had before they jumped. Some are worse, IMHO, and I’d be willing to give long odds they are paying lots more for it.)

In any case, from my decades of experience, I have found that hourly billing is the very best deal for clients.

“But what about overcharging?” This is a question that often comes to people’s minds when they consider hiring someone by the hour.

My answer to that is that I bill by the minute. Many (most?) web development enterprises have a 2-hour minimum or a 1-hour minimum, meaning if they do ten minutes’ worth of work, you get billed for a full hour, or even two. Pah! That’s no way to operate. It is not unusual for my clients to see line items on their bills for three minutes or six minutes worth of work. To my mind, there’s no reason for me to charge people for work I didn’t do.

Fixed-Price Quotes or Estimates ARE Available.

I do understand that sometimes a business or organization NEEDS to know what something will cost, so they can budget for the item or allocate the expenditure.

In these cases, I am happy to provide a fixed-price proposal, which, when accepted, will become a contract.

Alternatively, I have also given fixed-price or price-range estimates on a verbal agreement, and those have worked out fine as well.

In these proposals/contracts, I try to be as specific as possible as to what the price will be, what will be provided for that price, the time by which it will be finished, and how much it will cost if/when the client wants to add on things not covered in the contract.

Having worked on several contracts for the federal government, I understand how much of a hassle contract amendments can be.

So while working at an hourly rate is my preference, fixed-price contracts ARE available. Just ask.

Why $100 an hour?

There are several reasons for selecting this hourly rate.

I think at the top of the list of reasons is I need to make enough money for it to motivate me to do this work. Because I enjoy it so much is why the rate is not any higher.

I have done thousands of hours of development work billed out at significantly more than $100 an hour, and clients willingly paid this, knowing it was worth it. But billing out at $150 or $225 an hour seems to be NOT affordable for most small businesses, and many medium-sized businesses. I want my clients to be able to afford what they need.

I also have tons of experience and knowledge. I have enough knowledge to know I have barely scratched the surface of what’s out there to learn, but with a Master of Science degree in Information Systems and more than 35 years of computer experience, including being the Chief of Computers at USAF Academic Instructor School, and USAF Extension Course Institute, at the Community College of the Air Force, as a Project Director for BOATRACS/ARCOM, and more than a decade as a professional website developer, I do have a lot of experience and education in my background.

So I settled on $100 an hour as the best compromise between being affordable for my clients and providing sufficient motivation for me to get to work.

So How Can I Get A Discount?

Of course, everyone wants a bargain.

My philosophy is this: If you are a business that makes money, and your website helps your business, then it’s worth $100 an hour (still a bargain!) to have me build it and work on it for you.

If you are a charity, or a private individual, anyone working on a shoestring budget who is struggling to get started or stay up and running, then talk to me and we’ll see what we can do.

I strongly believe in free enterprise, and in the charity and generosity that free enterprise engenders.  I believe the more we help each other, the better our world will be for all of us.

Questions?

Just use the CONTACT form at the top of this page to shoot me an email and ask! I’m always happy to hear from prospective new clients.