rate & pricing analogy for irmacreative projects

Most people that ask me to build them a website don't know much, if anything, about web design or how the internet works. When explaining what I charge and why, I often use the catering business as an analogy because who doesn't know about food? If you were to call a catering company and say, "I want you to cater my party. How much would it cost?" the catering company would have a whole list of questions to ask you before they could even begin to give you a price. It is the same for designers.

When a caterer is first contacted, they might provide some small samples for the potential customer to try to get the general flavor of what they offer. Most aren't going to cook a four course meal or plan the entire menu until they get a firm commitment and deposit. In the same vein, I provide most potential clients with a first draft version of what I envision their site might look like and include (free samples!). When someone asks me to develop mockups, revise them and flesh them out to illustrate the entire site, that takes a great deal of time. It would be irresponsible of me to commit this amount of creative energy and time if I don't have a contract and deposit.

When determining the price for an event, caterers need to know 3 different elements of the meal: the numbers, the ingredients and the delivery/presentation. Even if they're just making peanut butter and jelly, it is going to cost a lot more to make 300 than it would to just make 50. As a designer, I need to know how many categories a site is going to have so I can know how many sandwiches, errr, pages, I will need to create. Each page will have content to edit & style, layouts to perfect and search engine accessibility to consider which adds time (and thus cost) to the project. It is important to note, however, that I don't charge per page as caterers charge per person. There is obvious repetition work in creating multiple pages that is factored in to (or rather, factored out of) my rate.

Of course, the most important part of a caterer's job (and their price) is the actual food they are going to serve. A dinner with filet mignon, top shelf champagne and handcrafted truffles will have a corresponding top shelf price. Cheaper ingredients (such as chicken) or recipes with easier preparation (such as pasta) will lower the price considerably. The "ingredients" of a website also factor heavily into determining my rate for a project. How many graphics will I have to create? Do you want a Javascript navigational menu? A Flash splash page? An online store? Blog integration? The answers to all of these questions, and a dozen more, will help me determine what creativity, technological skill and time will be required.

A couple years ago, I attended a wedding that had "ballet service." This is when the waiters not only serve your food and attend to your every need (my wineglass was never less than 2/3 full) but they also moved in a synchronized fashion giving the impression of effortlessly dancing around the tables. As a guest, it was mesmerizing. But I'm sure it was much more work for the waiters, not only on the evening of the event but also in rehearsals. Even without this extreme example, there is an obvious difference in effort and cost between a sit down meal with table service or a buffet. Add in the options for table settings, linens, bar service, etc and a "simple dinner" can rapidly skyrocket in price if you opt for the gold leafed plates, organza-covered chairs and open bar for 250 people. This is why caterers clearly go through every aspect of the event with a client to make sure the (costly) details are determined before estimating the final cost.

There are also a lot of special service options in web design. Custom photography, copywriting, search engine optimization, social networking consultations and user training will be considered luxuries by some, essentials by others. The fortune of customization that website design offers demanded that I devise my potential client questionnaire to help you narrow down your needs as well as your aesthetic wants. I don't want there to be any questions about cost or surprises down the road. Too many times, I've had a client realize midway through the design project that they needed a customized Wordpress blog or that they want a coordinated email marketing campaign. Regardless of how thorough my questionnaire is, ideas and changes will always pop up in the development process. So is the nature of creativity. Still, the questionnaire is an important part of the process as it will start to stir up your ideas and give me direction. Any changes to the ~~menu~~ design along the way that will alter the project fee in the contract will be discussed and agreed upon before I proceed.

The best part of this analogy is the end result. The guests of a party don't think about all of the work behind the scenes, the preparation, or the raw ingredients. That is the whole point. They enjoy the delicious food, admire the beautiful tables and leave with great memories that make them want to come to another one of your parties as soon as possible. When someone uses a website designed by irmacreative, I want them to leave with the same feeling. They don't need to know what JavaScript is used to run your image galleries or how many times we edited your about page. You (and I) simply want the user to get the information they came for efficiently and, hopefully, with a bit of style. A seamless and productive user experience will lead to repeat visitors to your site. The catering/design analogy ends there considering your repeat visitors won't cost you more money as throwing another extravagant party would. Unfortunately, that also means I can't offer you a chocolate fountain.