[aleph_null]

Hi

So pointers to other resources or "search the forums!" repsonses are fine, of course.

But I've a got a friend whose career in music is starting to take off. I did the original design for her website and after a year or so hiatus have come back on-board as webmaster. The little updates to tour schedules and stuff are a pain in the butt but kind of not worthy of payment ...

But I recently installed a mysql-powered shows database with php front end. So that's cool. Took several days' worth of work. Will continue to improve upon it.

I'm planning to redesign the site in a large way. That will take quite a bit of work.

She wants to pay me; I want to be paid. How much is the database work worth? How much would a redesign be worth? I know there aren't enough details here for concrete answers. I'm just looking for pointers or ballpark figures and so on.

Thanks!

[bluedog]

First of all, you're in SanFran. I'd look at how many hours you estimate the entire project to take. Use an hourly rate of at least $80/hr and find what you'd earn if you were paid by the hour.

Then decide how good of friends you are and whether the learning and experience you gained will help you in the future. This could be the 'break' you cut for a friend and your gained knowledge.

But IN THE END, charge a flat rate for completing the project. If it then takes you much longer than you thought, you're not souring your friendship, and you should have a limit to how many changes to do without incurring additional charges (like for site maintenance).

[-Q-]

You could also charge her X dollars for the DB and site design and then a smallish monthly fee that will cover the little maintenance things like schedule updates, or adding links to concert/album reviews etc. This way you don't have to worry about invoicing her for a change that takes 2 seconds: it's all covered under your "maintenance plan."

And it gives you a regular recurring revenue.

[aleph_null]

Thanks, guys. That's helpful.