Urm...my current charges for blog designing isn't hitting RM1k yet. Just to let you all know..

It's not because I want to 'curi' the market but it's because my analysis of the immature market doesn't allow me to position my price (which I really want) at a rate which the clients I have will deem valuable as many still do not understand the capabilities and potential of a blog to boost business returns.

But if your marketing very powderful then I can't say anything lor. Besides, I'm just marketing a blog as a blog. Not a website + blog + CMS like some others.

not student assignments, a blog for a student, personal blog.

hmm, I could think off these few factors.

Is the design complicated?
Are you developing a customised blog engine? Or, using an existing blog engine?
Do he/she requires you to maintain the blog for a long period?

Well, I guess its common sense to give a relative low price tag for a student/personal blog, but you will need to know what kind of blog he/she is blogging. If he/she already got a very famous blog (blogspot/wordpress) then you might as well charge a higher price tag since he/she knew that a good design could definitely boost his/her incomes

This post has been edited by Cyrus2k: Sep 13 2007, 09:15 PM

heh. i just lost a deal because some fella decide to charge RM 900 for web design package. see la, market killer.

next time M'sia no web designers already.

i dont understand, why there are people who like to kill other peoples business by giving cheaper, but worst effort in web designing or even graphic designs?? this should not happen and they who do this should be punished!!!

make others die standing liao... no business... sigh...

This post has been edited by lil twist: Sep 14 2007, 09:05 AM

if every newbie is charging RM 500 - 900 per website. isshhhh. let's see how they're going to survive.

EDITED : anyway forget about people who charge low, it's their business. For me, I'm happy that so far I have good clients who understand the pricing and what is involved.

This post has been edited by goldfries: Sep 15 2007, 05:34 AM

It'll never happen...

Exactly. Which is why the education and relationship is very important.

Many businesses in Malaysia still do not understand how do they perceive or measure the value of a website (much less a blog). So as web designers/developers/consultants/marketers it's our sole responsibility to educate our clients. If the client wishes to play the mind game, Malaysians are much less just plain lazy Asians.

how can you survive?
(unless you do at least 2 websites every month)

yeah it won't happen la, i'm just exaggerating.

Malazyasians.

I agreed with u!
What u said is very right!
To all the website designer, pls don't make the website market so CHEAP by charging the client at very very low price...
U should respect ur own creativity and work by charging the clients at a reasonable price, but not at very LOW price.
I like to see nice website and really admire those who know how to create a nice website....So please don't spoil the market and let the clients look down at ur work by charging them too cheap.

Yeah! All the best and good luck to all the website designers!!!

Normally the individuals or companies who do this seek volume..

LOL! Good one there..

Preaching won't do any good because what is lacking in the market is education. Not from the designer's side but the companies or clients.

And one of the reasons our market here is so saturated is because web design isn't a profession but treated like a hobby anyone can learn and do by just picking up a book. Which is a huge misconception.

I read somewhere about among "Quality", "Speed" and "Cost",
you can only pick two of them.
Which is very true.
But many Malaysian clients that i've met always wish to have all:
good quality, fast and cheap...

I tend to ask clients what's their budget first,
so that i know whether i should offer "solution" or just "design".

there definitely IS a lacking of education from the designer side.

there are designers like us who are aware of web standards, CSS, careful design and selection of colors, designers who can explain their design.

then there are designers who can do good design but can't explain anything, don't bother standards, CSS, valid xHTML, balbalbalblabla and worse, charging obscenely low price. Of course it's not wrong if you're free lance and starting out but then it would be advisable if one could do some explanation to client on why they are charging at a lower rate.

the difference between those 2 designer types could said to be that one designs out of interest and constantly seek to improve the Internet while the other is all about himself, screw the rest and where the Internet is heading.

How much do you guys normally charge for web maintenance?
Let's say updating text and images for a site that wasn't created by you.

Last time i charged RM 300~ 400 for replacing text and images, or some light script editing (does not include adding pages or new graphics production).

I'm not surprised half don't even have the budget but demand for the world.

The reason for wanting everything (without considering budget) is the lack of education and the misconception made by others in the industry. And because we can't say "you're just stupid" to a client, we have to try and make it sound we're not lecturing but informing them of the smarter decision.

I never believed a standard monthly fees is fair. That is why for me, I'd rather just per hour.

A gaming clan website + gaming clan custom build blogging system (integrated), custom built photo album system, html PHP MYSQL JavaScripts CSS, Photoshop Illustrator AfterEffects, how much you will rate this for? basiclly it a very complicated thing. (but this is a 'volunteer' work, cuz i am the client also the builder )

This post has been edited by M1X: Sep 17 2007, 12:50 PM

i think you guys dont understand the client very well. Does your website guarantee sales and profit through the look of the design.

you guys should provide marketing solution.

clients not interested in technical and design. they dont think like you. if your website generate profits, you have the right to charge them but what if it doesnt. Can your idea guarantee the client business? Can you see what he/she is thinking at his office table. While talking to the client, swap your roll for a while and thinks like him.

If i am any of you, i would love to see my website marketing idea works . im not interested in only designing, there's a lot of things to bring them together like advertisment and domain name.

look for longer term business and it works . Eg. Printer's price nowaday is cheap but not the Ink. See what im trying to explore your business and marketing outlook. Charge low first but get that extra perks in a hidden manner that works for you and also the client.

Welcome to the business world. by the way, im not a designer anymore. use to be but retires already due to cold treatment in the industry. I can see the world much better than i once live inside the box. ( the creative world - where most creative people believe in, they were stucked for good not realizing that they were getting more sophisticated and debating the same thing , loosing grip of other things and anti-social ). think outside the box only makes you live inside the box longer. Let it Go!

This post has been edited by hackwire: Sep 21 2007, 12:06 AM

a website on it's own, regardless of how SE optimized it is and how awesome it looks, is only limited as it is. It's just like a shop, you can have the fanciest shop in town but if you're not going to spend more to make it known and have nothing great to offer, it's not going to draw many crowd.

i had one client that claims his site doesn't bring sales, upon checking on the matter - he didn't even do his part to market / promote his site!

anyway here's what i wrote - http://www.goldfries.com/websites-blogging...need-a-website/

it's more than just sales.

btw the discussion here is just web design, designing alone takes effort. for marketing solutions, they better be willing to cough up more $$$.

This post has been edited by goldfries: Sep 21 2007, 01:13 AM

most of my client can cough out more but how many designer can do marketing campaign as well. not many.
goldfries, you miss out something in your article .

you have mention every reasons for business to own a website and you know what? What if?
company has 1000 items like gifts, accesorys , apparels which constantly change and updated. What do you do as a business owner? Obviously they dont have the time to sit there and update the details.

focus on Online business or open a Retail Shop ?

there's a limitation when business products are tangible. If running a Corporate Website like SPA or Hair saloon website, the approach is different. Not all websites work for the type of businesses. People dont like buying hair pin from website.

This post has been edited by hackwire: Sep 21 2007, 09:25 PM

Urm, this is going to be a chicken and egg story...seriously. Look at it both sides too.

If the marketing didn't have a designer, the customers would be staring at something only a marketing person would understand or wouldn't catch the attention of the customer for that matter.

If the designer didn't have a marketing person, then the customer may go "ooo...aaaa" but in the end not take any action from the advertisement itself.

Hence, this is a chicken and egg story. So, I'd just quit it and instead provide the necessary advice then to say who wins between David and goliath.

My take in this matter; yes, most designers do not know how to run a marketing campaign. They are trained in design after all and not on business subjects. And a marketing person can beautify his sales presentation up but when it doesn't achieve the required impact without the necessary tools/designs than the client won't be happy as well. And to be honest, as the world unravels more we'll need more creative heads soon (not just designers think creatively). So it's a tie!

p/s: Just read your extended reply and I disagree not all business need a website. You know what many corporates nowadays are thinking. If you don't have a website, your company is a 'nobody'. If you were speaking to an international client and they were looking at your business card which then leads to the question, "I noticed you don't have a website...how come?" Then what'll the person say, "Because my business doesn't need one.." ?

A website is a necessary business presence for any corporate entity today. If they don't have a website, they may have a blog. If they don't have a blog, they'd be using Facebook or other online tools hosted in...a website. That said, the generation is adopting to the Internet so where would a business be without a website in future is what I would ask.

M1X:
You mentioned AfterEffects, I'd presume it's something to do with the Flash presentation later. I think even gaming clan websites should be treated as any other commercial corporate work. The clan is like the employees and the manager is like the director. So...same-same lor.

This post has been edited by etsuko: Sep 21 2007, 09:39 PM