How much can a webmaster make?

Simple answer: You can make whatever the client is willing to pay you.

More realistically, you'll want to start small, doing some sites for free, just to build up your portfolio. Start getting the word out, and then you can start raising your prices once you start getting good... It really depends on whether you're thinking of starting your own business or joining an existing design company. Which did you have in mind?

Well since i started doing web site stuff in late october early november, i haven't really thought of that. But i have come a long way in the last 3 1/2 months thanks to this forum and placed like sictalk.com . Well, there are two individuals i am going to do websites for, for their business, basically an informational website, not like selling items online. So i could probably do those two for a small fee, but i am somewhat related to both of them, so i feel like i am obligated to be easy on them, price wise. I am not even graduated from college yet, but if i can work for a company, i might do that at first, and then maybe branch off. I am a very imagitive person and i think that could be a good asset for my personal business or a company i work for. What do many companies pay to have you on their staff? Is it salary, or like commission?

I think its great you looking at future prospects and all but I think like anything you have to really enjoying doing it before you can earn big bucks from it.
If you do it just for the money, sure you may make some but you'll either get sick of it or bored with it, do these few jobs you have now for free (they are family after all) and see what the rewards are after doing it, was the responce (awesome site, site sucks) what you expected? was it worth a couple hundred dollars? you never know these few love jobs could get you more work (word of mouth advertising) which can make you money, in just about every job sometimes giving away a freebie here and there starting out is the best thing you can do.
IMHO if you love what your doing, the money is second and people will pay you what your worth, 5 years ago I was restoring sports cars, I loved that job, even worked for free when times were tough, (would still be doing it now if i hadnt damaged my knee), but I was offered jobs left right and center, some even overseas because they could see my love of what i was doing went into it. I know cars and the internet are different but working at a job you dislike or hate is one of the worst things you could ever do to yourself.
if you work on a "I'm worth 100k" guideline and work your way up thinking your worth top dollar and nothing else, what happens if/when you get there? you reached your peak so only way left is down, you wont enjoy the top as you didnt enjoy the trip there.
when you do free sites, try do ones that dont need maintance or very little updates.

Well, the two i will be doing aren't REALLY hard maintence, but occasional updates, like with product images and descriptions are necessary. The thing is, my dad already told me he would pay me, But i think you are right. I will offer for free and take care of these sites, plus he has connections:) so that may help in the future assuming i do a good job. Thanks for your help busy, i appreciate it

bryan

I think since you are just starting, try doing some sites for really cheap (100 or less). I recently started designing for money and I find the hardest part is finding clients who are willing to pay. However since you seem to be majoring in marketing, you shouldnt find that aspect too difficult to conquer.

First of all, it' illegal to discuss specific prices for website work - it's called price fixing and it's illegal in Canada and the US. Besides, there are a lot of things that complicate matters when discussing a price or salary. It depends on what kind of work you're doing ("webmaster can mean a lot of things!), where, whether you're working for yourself or for a larger company - all kinds of things. If you're in the US you can check out salary.com to get an idea of what you could make in your area.

Another thing you should now is that there are virtually no jobs in this area right now. Well, at least in my geographical area there's not and I'm sure that holds true for other parts of the world as well. What you could do (and sort of what I am doing) is find a day-job in another field, or in a similar field (ie. you could be doing marketing for a web design company or something like that- I don't know what else is out there) and do your webmastering on the side.

I agree with Megan.....the market it flooded with web developers/designers right now and unless you are in an area that isn't saturated your fee structure will depend greatly on what the market in your area will tolerate.

I moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a population well over a million and within 90 miles of Chicago, to Sioux City, Iowa that has a population of about 150,000. I had to seriously restructure my fees for a more rural area.

I have been developing web sites for other people since 1999 and was doing pretty well until recently and had to go out and find a "real" job because there simply wasn't any web work out there. Getting a day job and working on the web on the side is an excellent idea. It gives you an opportunity to build up a client base before you take the plunge and do this full time.

It's been about 6 months and my existing clients are just starting to come around and start spending money on their sites again and I am starting to pick up more local business. Unless you have a support system or another source of income 6 months with no regular work can seem like a very long time.