Replying to a help wanted ad on web design.

[Jessweeee♪]

I saw an ad in the paper and thought "hey I could do this. I think I know enough now." Thing is, I've never done anything like this professionally, so I'm not sure how to approach this without sounding like an idiot. No real information was given in the ad, it just read

Web Design
Property Management
House Cleaning.
(phone number)

I'm not really sure if that's a very to-the-point company name or if those are other jobs they have open. My guess is I'm either looking at a small business website or a personal website. What sort of questions should I ask? What range of pay is reasonable for work like this? I imagine I'd charge for the hosting and domain fees, but for the actual building and maintenance of the website I'm not quite sure.

[Rantz]

If it's a one time job, ie. "make this website, get money, bye", definitely make sure you don't agree to just a sum of money for the whole package plainly - you can agree to a sum, but you need to be sure that if they start asking for more, or things you haven't agreed on, that you will start charging hourly (or whatever you prefer). It's often a good idea to charge hourly from the start, though.

I would say be upfront about how much you want. If they can't pay that much, they will typically say that - but unless you're in dire need of that money, I wouldn't agree to anything less than, say 75% of what you really want, or they might think they can cheat you. Negotiate like a bitch.

As for how much you actually want to ask for, it's hard to give generic advice - and since I'm in Sweden, it's hard to give you any meaningful numbers since currency values change. It depends on what kind of web design/development you'll be doing, and how good you are at it, and how efficient you'll be.

But yeah, I'd say the most important thing is that both you and them know the terms fully before agreeing - not just "make the website", but make it clear what that encompasses, and how many times they can ask you to redo things before you start charging more, etc. And try to get a written contract. You can just type it up yourself and sign and have them sign it, if they seem reluctant. Without a written contract, if they try to cheat you, you're out of luck unless you work with the Floridian mafia or something.

[Jessweeee♪]

Thanks, Rantzien! I've got an interview tomorrow. I was told that if I got the job I will be working three days a week, four hours a day, at their location.