a $350 web site?... a rant

I just got a call from a woman who wanted me to design a web site for her.

She's starting an online clothing company. Here's her brief:

500 photos of her products.

The photos all need "minor" retouching... remove backgrounds, clean up.

Needs a shopping cart.

Wants an e-mail to go to the shopper confirming the order.

E-mail to her with the specifics.

Budget:

$350

Now, I'm the first person to try to help someone out... especially if they are just starting out. But $350 doesn't even start to cover the retouching.

I've done large projects for clients at a discounted rate, because I know that when they have the budget, they let me know. Sometimes my clients will say... "hey Rob, throw another $500 on that project to cover that last job you did for us where we didn't have much money."

Now that's how I like to work... it doesn't matter how much I make on a single job with my clients, it's how much I earn over the year with them that counts.

Bottom line.. if you want to be a successful freelancer... be fair with your clients. They will be fair with you.