good advices, I always try to keep this things present but its a very good reminder, thanks! :thumb:
Sharif you have a long stride ahead of you. You are going to need contracts that protect both parties and a definate structure (business). That is if you are serious about the biz. Professionalism goes along way. And when you start getting clients that you can charge 10-15k for you really want to radiate professionalism. I learned that early. Be firm on your price and services. And there is nothing wrong with outsourcing and if you have a good source by all means list it on your list of services. Worst case there is always rentacoder. Which I have used in the past. But now I have my outsource connections.
Thanks CG - Unflux! I perfectly get what you guys are saying.
I definetly will keep a positive and confident attitude and get to know my clients so this way I won’t be afraid of what I charge :D.
Anyone has any other tips?
Anyways - thanks a lot.
woah these prices would be crazy around here where I live… In Estonia I’d be lucky to get the same amount of the local money (EEK) which is about 13 times less :*(
Yea what DDD said. I think it’s pretty standard nowadays that you should always get things in writing.
When you’re young (or if you look young like me) then you have to work even harder to be regarded as a professsional. I’m always running into situations where my pricing is in question and all too often I’ll cave and work a deal. Lately I’ve been better and I’ve been finding that I’m treated better. One of my first clients called me the other day wanting some posters done (for cheap) and when I said they wouldn’t be done for a month and a half he said “why the **** will it take so long?” I told him straight up that even though his work was important to me I couldn’t put his work above my other clients because I had bills to pay. He laughed, then asked what it would take to get them done in two weeks.
Good point.
- It’s going to take a looooooooong time and hard work for me to be considered a professional to clients…
Syko, I still haven’t broke the five figure for one job (not including extras and I’m in Canada!) so you’re not alone.
Not time! Attitude!
I’m still new and I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything but I’ll do whatever it takes to get the work done if that’s what I said I’d do. Of course you’ll have to overcome stupid stereotypes but it really isn’t that hard to overcome. Most of the people that contact me have no idea how old I am and when it finally comes to a meeting they have a wowed look on their face.
I’m 24 competing with people that have been in the business for 30+years. But let me tell you the dinosaurs are so lazy and will rely on their number of years of experience, but anything high-tech is a young mans game, add in the fact that you’re a mature likable person and the sale is yours.
Hmm - I doubt I’ll ever set up real-live meetings with them ;). Might be a little too shocked at my age :P.
–
If a client wants to meet me in real life, how can I bring it to them kindly that I can’t or just won’t?
uh… Never had that problem… Probally Just Tell them… throw what ever means you contact then in the first place. MSN… YaHoo… Phone. 
I see.
Sell your personality. Just like in HS, the guys who get picked first when picking a basketball team aren’t neccessarily the best players. If you were looking to buy a tent and your friend sold tents, where would you go to buy a tent first? Make friends with everyone and they’ll help you down the line, maybe not directly but everyone wants to be friends with the life of the party so that’s your role (don’t be an idiot though) lol. Also, you have to be sincere! Really make an effort to get to know the people around you. Sure you may be smart but no one cares more about themselves then they do.
CanadianGuy… and I thought the best things from up there was Alanis and SCTV.
You’re made of starstuff buddy. If ya don’t let the world shake ya, which I would bet against, your “mental luggage and soul” will have lots of stamps on their passport. 
@ Orionstar ??? lol grabs dictionary and looks up starstuff and mental luggage
< thinking >
I really don’t get what you’re saying? Some people love Alanis and SCTV and some people hate them? Should I be insulted? < /thinking >
He means your a stand up guy and your karma is in good shape
lunatic , thanks for the clarification!! 
Yes CanadaianGuy… total compliment.
Metaphorically saying , you’ll go places for sure.
Lunatic, you need to up the dosage on those crazy pills. You’re way sane.
I still get 13x les than you do
ANd I’m nowhere near the 5 digit
:to:
Also think about updates. I have a good handful of clients now and their updating needs vary. Some websites take a lot of my time, so I have to charge them more. Others, I’ve written administration websites that are password protected so they can go in and safely update their own information without my assistance.
If you want to be a free-lance web designer, I believe you owe it to yourself, and your clients, to learn a server-side language. When you do, you can program submission forms and move on to ecommerce.
Had to throw in 2¢
For starters I’d say about around anywhere from 5k - 10k depending on the size of the project.
$10 000 ???
edit: nevermind it’s got to be america… 
Sharif -> Can i see some of the sites you’ve done. I’m just interested. I’m 13 too, and I’ve done some webdesign, recently started with flash. Don’t know if i can make money on it yet.
/
Simon Henriksen
:sen:
@Simon - check out Sharifs home page - I’ll bet he’s got links there to some of his work. 
