Hey guys, as you all know i've been doing websites for friends and family members for this while that i've been with the CoffeeCup fam. I am now in a transitioning phase where I want and need to learn how to finance my websites. I was wondering if some of you who have experience in this area of web design could somehow help me ? I'm trying to setup my own circle for starters so that I can create, charge and maintain some sites. Thanks guys, if you need to e-mail me i'm at scripeon@gmail.com

I think once again you can do the same as everyone else does here Matt, Google is your friend, use it young Padawan

Seriously though I believe there are already a few threads in the forums about people wanting to know what to charge people, honestly I don't think you are anywhere near ready to be charging people for work yet. Just my opinion of course, and I don't mean to sound mean here at all, just telling you what I and I'm sure many others here will be thinking. You've very rarely done anything that you haven't needed assistance (and quite a bit of it) to do. When you start doing websites to charge people for them, you are not going to get as much assistance here since you're going to make money and people here would be doing half the work. Hopefully that makes sense and you understand what I'm getting at here. No offense meant at all, you're a nice kid, but you have a lot of learning to do before you're ready to be calling yourself a web designer business.

Matt, I have one steady customer that I maintain their site. The rest are mostly one time deals where users need assistance or some custom scripts made. I started out the same as you doing websites for myself and family. Once you get to the point of being able to wrangle html all by yourself that's when you'll know you can start charging for your work. Take your time and don't expect anything until you learn and expect even less after you do. This will keep your creative processes under control.

Ok thanks guys , I'm still in school for HTML and CSS , I was just thinking even if I give them the website, can I just charge them monthly to maintain it? I know enough html and css styling right now that I can start cutting you guys some slack I can read code backwards and forwards, but when it comes to writing my own scripts I still need a little assistance. It's just frustrating that i'm not where I think I should be at this point. Don't mean to dump my problems here but i've really got nowhere else to go lol

Matt, you can charge for site work but remember your still learning and you can't charge your clients for that.

Ok , understood.

I currently have 8 maintenance contracts, and on months with low sales...boy, has it ever helped. I try to feel out the client to see if they something they need to do that's dynamic and offer services. My only advice is to send out your invoices early and often. I usually start on the 27th or 28th for the next month, and will invoice every 5-7 days. My clients are super people, but like most businesses they have a lot on their plate so reminding them works out well and they don't seem to mind.

Looks like UncleMap needs a little more 'air' in his date! (Get the wrinkles out!)

Maybe he's in to Cougars.

Student Art.. went to the local Art Museum and seen some cool stuff..