Personally, I don't think it's the term that's the problem, it's certain people. In fact, it's exactly those people who aren't professional and provide sub par sites with low quality tools for low ball prices. Arron says that this results in situations where "you give a prospect a proposal for $1,300 they tell you that their neighbor’s kid can do t for $20." But honestly, I think the problem is a little more subtle. The problem is that many freelancers are so determined to get jobs that when they receive that reply they respond with "okay I'll do it for $20" (okay, maybe not $20, but you know what I mean). Most Americans don't know how to bargain, so when presented with an opportunity that requires bargaining, which most introductory Web design jobs do, they either cave-in immediately or refuse to negotiate. I admit, I've been in this situation many times, and I've been tempted many times to either cave-in and lower my price or state that that's my final offer and walk away.
It's scary to negotiate. You might lose the job, and if you're strapped for cash or business, that can be very scary. It's easy to tell yourself that any money is better than no money. But I've heard many stories where people agreed to do design work for a low price (or free) and regretted it later.
The Bottom Line No job is worth sacrificing your professionalism. Just because you are a freelance Web designer doesn't mean you have to provide low quality work, cheap prices and act unprofessionally. Have pride in your work, and the next time someone tells you that they could get their neighbor to do the job for $20, tell them "fine, then I suggest you ask him or her". I have learned that people and companies who value price over everything else are not people or companies I want to work with anyway. When I do freelance Web design (or anything else, for that matter), I provide high quality work at a fair price. And my job title has nothing to do with that.
I agree with you, if all freelancers started calling themselves independent contractors, or some other title, you’d still have the same problem. Some freelancers provide poor quality and cheap service, just as some firms and companies do.
The,” Price” shopper.
I have been in professional sales in excess of twenty-five years. During that time I have sold many,” High ticket” items ($50K and higher).
During that same period I have repeatedly run into what I would call the low price shopper.
I have disarmed and won over many of these type clients with the following question/line of thinking.
‘If it comes down to quality, service or low price, which one would you like to give up first’?
“The price” always gets dropped first, then you take YOUR price and reduce it to the ridiculous for the client.
‘George, how long will you use the website I am designing for you’ for the low investment of $3,500.00′?
‘Five years’? O.K., 5×365 = 1,825 days. 3,500 divided by 1,825 days = $1.91 a DAY! (Do the calculations on a calculator in front of your prospect when possible!That means make an appointment when possible and get in front of them!)
Why George, how much too much IS $1.91 per day to get exactly the kind of functionality you were looking for in your website?
Selling yourself and your services if done right should be the easy part.
I used to own a business selling high-end window furnishings. The smartest thing we ever did (the designers and myself) was decide not to deal with the price-shoppers and keep our margins up. It went against all my salesman instincts to not try to do anything to get a sale. After a year or two, we had established a referral network of people who were willing to pay good money for good products. Competitors who lowered their prices to get jobs kept getting referrals who expected lower prices (but always wanted top quality)
This is even more true in Web Design. Nobody ever asked me to make them draperies for free! Every job I have ever taken (in either industry) for less money has bitten me.
My advice: figure out what price you want to get for your work, charge that price, and ask the customers who understand your value for referrals. Let the neighbors kid deal with those headaches.
Very true, Jennifer. Unfortunately as a beginner I am learning this the hard way now (about the prices). I may even submit the horror story (when it ends or gets resolved)…
I have never thought of the term “freelancer” in negative terms. All the freelancers I know have quite a bit of professional experience and know how to behave/speak/dress professionally.
Jen, your bottom line paragraph hits the nail on the head.
It is how we present ourselves that will influence how people will perceive us. When someones asks me what do I, I tell them I own my own company designing and managing web sites. If they ask me what will it cost them, I tell them that I cannot quote without examining their needs. If you act professional, people will accept you as a professional.
Personally I deliver high quality sites, on time and on budget. I get repeat business and referrals from corporate clients … and yet I wear jeans to business meetings!
In my experience people like their creative hires to look different to them, it gives them a sense that they don’t have that kind of flare in-house.
If you turn up to meetings in jeans and t-shirt with a macBook Pro and can wireframe in Fireworks whilst you’re sat there then you’re fine with 99.9% of business people. In my experience anyway.
Anne: Personally, I wear jeans to business meetings all the time. But they don’t have holes in them and they look neat and tidy. I have been to job interviews where the applicant wore a ripped, dirty Metallica t-shirt, met another prospective designer who wanted me to hire her – she was dressed in goth.
Both of these might be fine once your client knows you and understands your professionalism. But I don’t think dirty clothes or extreme design styles will help showcase your work. If your client is concentrating more on what you’re wearing than what you’re showing them, you probably won’t get the job.
Part of being a professional is recognizing what type of attire is appropriate. In Uzbekistan I would never show up for a job in anything less than fancy dress, but for a day at work in California, jeans, clean t-shirt and flip-flops were just fine. I’ve been told that the east coast of the US is more formal than the west (never having worked there, I can’t verify). If that is the case, then dressing more formally is a good plan for any designer out there.
As a designer myself, I’ve run into this kind of situation with incompetent designers offering their services as well. Unfortunately, in the case of web design, I feel I fall into both the under-priced freelance neighbor-type as well as the professional who maintains good and ethical design practice. By which I mean…
I’m fairly fresh out of college and as I had almost no web design experience in it through my design studies, I’ve been spending a great amount of time lately learning as much as I can. I have RSS feeds from design sites, I’m subscribed to this about.com site and I’ve also been spending hours each week with a notepad in front of lynda.com watching videos. Needless to say, I recently offered a company an extremely low price (as a freelancer) for their web design.
While I have almost no web-design skills, there are probably many who feel that I’m the root of the problem. I see this as a portfolio building and learning experience for myself however. As I need web work for my portfolio, I see this potential project in a different light than most “low-end” designers in that I’m adamant in doing it the correct way. What good is a portfolio piece (especially web which is so easy to find mistakes and such in through the coding) if it’s not correctly and ethically done.
Anyway, this company has some other guy with tons of web design experience who might be doing it for free for them. Looking at his sites, I honestly question his ability to design however which upsets me. I know that if they chose me, not only will they have a site that looks great in a design sense, but also one that will be coded beautifully and follow new trends.
I guess there’s always someone out there giving those with ambition, a bad name. Web design is definitely not the only field in which it’s a problem, that’s for sure.
In all things regarding Information Technology the Website designer/builder should try to determine the potential customer’s knowledge of
#1) Their own industry. #2) What they seek to accomplish. #3) How computers, networks, and the Internet work. (Technical aspects, and Marketing aspects). Maybe you can charge a lower price up front in return for a long term support agreement, or for potential customer referals, otherwise try not to undercut yourself.
Good points here.
I think that no matter what we call it, there will be those who ruin it for the rest of us.
I agree with you, Personally I deliver high quality sites, on time and on budget. I get repeat business and referrals from corporate clients … and yet I wear jeans to business meetings!