Newbie consultation help

Good Morning, ...I have similar aspirations, to wit, setting up a company which will deisgn, build, and maintain sites; document sites; and engage in software development. Thus I have given much thought to your issue.

My approach to these rather ambitious plans is to advertise by "Reputation."
Accordingly I do not charge anything for current work or for a portfolio presentation. In any field, but especially the artistic ones, reputation is truly everything. That may seem to be stating the obvious; but I offer my services to every business establishment and etc. where some sort of bond has been established between myself and the proprietor, and will often do a site on "spec."

The distinction I am trying to establish is one of personal contact versus mass advertising. The latter has to be done; but then you are simply one in a crowd. Pounding the leather off of your shoes is more work, and perhaps slower, but personal contact is the most efficacious way that I know of to build a reputation. But until I am a somebody, I charge nothing and am completely candid. .....I started this less than 6 months ago and already it is starting to "pay" dividends.

I hope this is relevant;
Sir Coistrel

Hi again Karmaman,

To establish some credibility, I live very close to the Alberta College of Art and Graphic Design. It is a four year program and, having an absolutely brilliant student live accross the hall from me for four years definitely left its mark. He poured hours into his postfolio and then flew back to Toronto and pounded the pavement. It paid off in spades...the main point being that he put everything up front and absorbed all of the costs. To make the world come to him; he first went out into the world at his own expense.

The client consultation process is somewhat of a different matter, but again I am strong believer in taking a risk. A deposit is not an income. I would request that any unusual expenses be covered on an ongoing basis, but other wise would simply proceed to some agreed upon point of no return and then draw up a contract and commence negotiating the payment process. ..."If you like this work, sir/madam, then let us sit down and negotiate a payment schedule."

One can put forward many analogies, and I am not unaware that many will absolutely disagree with what I am proposing, but it is the rare commodity I will purchase until I see the final product.

Call this "opening the discussion." ...SirCoistrel

I have to agree with SirCoistrel. I did work for myself, friends and family before landing any paying gigs. Some friends and family are nice enough to pay some, also, but it's best not to demand it. They know you're using them to fill out your portfolio. They're using you too, for a free (or cheap) website. So it's all good.

Personally, for anything over some set dollar amount, we do half upon agreeing to do the website (in our case, that's the signing of a contract) and another half upon delivery. However, if the material they need to give me is not given after a certain amount of time (specified in the contract), the other half becomes due. We are still contracted to do their site, it's just that the second payment is due.

I use this same method....half up front and half upon completion. I also require them to agree to 3-6 months of support/maintenance/promotion at the beginning of the job. I emphasize that I do not want to be a part of a website that is simply completed and then left to rot, so they must agree for me to help them even after the design and programming are complete.