We’ve just launched a new website for a fabulous company, Play On. Play On, based in Perth WA, offer fun sports games for kids programs. Just by looking at the photos you can see how much fun the kids and Wayne, the founder and coach, are having.

If you’re in Perth I imagine your kids would love a session and if you’re not in Perth let’’s hope they expand.

My Business magazine just published my third article: The Essential Guide to Business Blogging. Again it’s in PDF format but I thought I’d post it anyway. We’re currently re-designing this site (yes I know it’s taking a while) and I plan to include an article section but for now I figure PDF is better than nothing. Hope you enjoy it.
My next article is due soon and I’d love some topic suggestions. Anyone?

I had another article published in My Business magazine recently. You can read a PDF version here: Seven Sins of Website Design.

I’ve just had an article published in My Business - an Australian business magazine. The article is called Building a Website on a Budget. It’s a printed publication but I do have a PDF version you can read. Let me know what you think of it. The deadline for the next one is this Friday - eek!

There’s a great post over at Blue Favor on Pricing Web Design Projects. The post is excellent and definitely deserves a read. A couple of points I really like:

A crucial problem to accurately pricing projects is that proposals happen so early in the process, as the vendor we only have a couple of meetings, phone calls or a document to understand the project. We do our best to come up with a fair and accurate price, but it often feels like a shot in the dark.

This is something I have grappled with for years. To be able to give an accurate idea of price you need a clear idea of what the client is after. And to know this you need to spend time working with them to determine their goals, requirements and strategy. Which brings me to the next point in the post:

Though every book I’ve read on the topic of pricing says to never ever ballpark, I have a tendency to do so. If they can’t disclose the budget I typically try to start throwing a few numbers from previous projects to help gage the scope of what we are talking about, call it a good faith effort to start the discussion.

I too often do this, partially for the reasons above. Ideally I like to get a budget but that is not always possible. If not I try to do a rough scope of the project and give the client an idea of costs. If we’re on the same wavelength we take it from there.

The post also goes on to talk about determining hourly rates, quoting by the hour or project and tips for clients when pricing a web design project. Definitely worth a read, and an addition to my feed reader.

The lovely Liana Evans of Search Marketing Gurus has interviewed me for her latest Women of Internet Marketing series.

The lovely Bill Slawski from SEO By the Sea has tagged me in a new blog meme: Five Reasons Why I Blog. Thanks Bill.

Ok, so why do I blog?

1. I was Pushed Into It
   Ok maybe that is a bit harsh but I was encouraged to blog - it was tied into a blog design project ThinkProspect was doing for a client. Admittedly I had heard of all the benefits of blogging but just hadn’t found the time to start my own. I’m now very grateful for the push.
2. I Love Blogging
   Since that early push I’ve discovered I really, really love blogging. It took a while to get the hang of it all but now I love it. It’s a great creative outlet and usually gives me a nice push on those mornings I’m finding it hard to get going.
3. To Improve My Writing Skills
   This has almost been a side benefit but I’ve found blogging has really helped my writing and finding my own voice. Something I felt I had struggled with previously.
4. To Communicate with Clients and Prospects
   Blogging has been a nice way to communicate with clients and prospective clients. In particular prospective clients can get a feel for me and ThinkProspect before they even pick up the phone. I’m amazed at how many people have come to us after reading and liking the blog.
5. To Educate and Inform
   I’ve had so many wonderful people help and support me over the years it’s great to give back to others. I’m also so appreciative for all the comments I get for the blog. It means a lot to me to know people are enjoying it and talking about it.

Here are the 5 people I’d love to hear from:

1. Miriam Ellis-Loraditch from SEO Igloo Blog
2. Li Evans from Search Marketing Gurus
3. Darren Moloney from On SEO Pond
4. Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Roundtable
5. Pierre Far from eKstreme.com

I know I’ve been a bit quiet lately but I’ve been furiously finishing off some websites for clients. One of which we launched today. So if you have a moment you may want to check out Pleasurelea Tourist Resort. Pleasurelea offer accommodation in beautiful Batemans Bay, a place I would love to visit some day!

This is probably one of the most asked questions by web designers. Do you provide fixed price quotes or estimates?

Many choose to go down the estimate route as often jobs can expand or go over budget significantly and leave the designer out of pocket. An estimate stops this by allowing you to add a clause such as the following:

These figures are an estimate, not a quote. They are based on information provided, and may be inappropriate if additional information is forthcoming, or job specifications change. It is valid for XX days.

This gives the designer a way to ensure that all work not covered, or for extra time spent changing a photo/colour/insert-element-here 20, times is compensated for. But is it the best approach?
For a long time in my web design career I used estimates. Last year I moved to fixed price quotes. Why?

• It’s simpler for both me and my clients. We both know where we stand and what we’re getting.
• It’s much easier to covert a prospect if they know exactly what they’re going to be paying for their site.

But how do you manage continual changes, additions of new features and so forth I hear you ask? Simple.

1. Define what your quotes do and don’t include.
2. Define how many updates, changes, re-designs etc you will do within that figure.
3. Communicate with your client. If they want something outside the scope of the quote explain it to them. Most clients are fine with this as long as you communicate with them clearly - before you do any additional work.

It’s up to us to manage the design project and our client’s expectations. I always use the “is it reasonable” test. I’m happy to be flexible, if a client decides the photo they wanted to use looks no good and would like it changed I’ll change it. If they ask me to change it 10 more times it’s no longer reasonable and outside of the scope of the quote. 99% of the clients I have dealt with would find that reasonable too. And those that don’t aren’t clients any more.

This way is not for everyone, I’ve been designing websites for long enough to be able to quote accurately, but I definitely think it’s the best approach.

Some of the rush jobs I’ve been working on was to finish off two websites for my clients. In the spirit of Christmas I’d like to pass them some link love:

Coogee Pet Friendly B&B Accommodation

Film & Television Studio International

Take a look and tell me what you think.