Pricing Guide for Web Services Second Edition Jed Clampett August 1, 2000

Because Web publishing is still a relatively new field, many of us have a hard time determining what to charge for individual activities. I found this book to be an excellent resource, including a list of Web services to help determine what you should be charging. Each service listed includes a brief description of the activities involved. For example, one of the services is page layout so a list of Web Page layout components is listed. To give you an idea of how extensive the list is, some of the components are; layout style, text placement, links, banners, e-commerce and many more.

The four factors you need to consider; cost, customer, competition and compensation are thoroughly discussed. You'll see how to evaluate your costs, both direct and indirect. The book also addresses the cost of learning your software and calculating the hourly rates you need to be charging in a clear and concise manner. All the specifics and extras to take into consideration while determining pricing for the large corporation or for the small one-person shop are included.

I particularly liked the table showing the budget of hourly costs for things such as key boarding, scanning, web page layout etc. All the costs you are likely to encounter are considered.

“the message is-there's a COST to each thing you do”

Everything you do in a job needs to be evaluated, each meeting, each phone call, everything needs to be added to the cost. There is a sample rate sheet for a single home page job and for a six-page job.

There is a superb section on how the market place affects your final price including the location you are in, government regulations, the economy and so on. Knowing your market is critical as well as analyzing the competition, knowing how they get publicity and how they market their services. You'll also find a comprehensive chapter on how to develop a pricing strategy and decide which services you want to offer. Pricing tactics is next and the book ends with bidding and negotiating.

The tables, charts, examples and detailed explanations make this book invaluable for anyone who needs to determine their pricing. I can't think of a thing that has been left out. You'll find this an impressive book that you'll want to scour over more than once. It is thought provoking and insightful. So put on your thinking cap, grab a pencil and some paper and prepare a pricing schedule everyone can live with. I'm serious. Don't pass this one by.

Copyright 2000, Joyce Evans, All Rights Reserved