One Stop Business Publications

[Jarvo]

I'm currently beginning my business; and as a result would like to offer a 'one stop business publications' deal

For just £399.99 you can get:

• Website
• Business Card Design
• Letterhead Design
• Compliment Slip Design
• Brochure Design
• Leaflet Design
• Search Engine Optimisation For Three Months
• Web Development and Maintenance for Three Months

If you are interested please contact me by e-mailing me at: colin@jarviswebandgraphicsolutions.co.uk

Or alternatively visit my website at Web Design Manchester | Graphic Design Manchester | Search Engine Optimisation Services

Colin

[KevJaques]

Hmm, I would say at that price you won't be in business very long.

For that price I would say there is no way you can give the attention to detail, research, design, approval, scope, service and many other things that go with this kind of work. You are realistically looking at less than 2 days to be able to create all of that without even going anywhere near maintenance or SEO.

What if someone came along and wanted a 100 page website, you make no mention of clarifying what a Website would contain for that price.
Or they wanted a 100 page brochure, that could take weeks to create depending on the content.

How can you afford to do all this as cheap as chips, is there a typo?

Web development could mean all manner of things and you would most certainly not manage to sustain a business by charging a one off price as low as that for ongoing development.

Search Engine Optimisation - again, this work can take hours, weeks, months, effort, dedication, onsite should really be a given at a good basic level, offsite is another different beast and you would not get very far with 400 quid on its own regarding SEO let alone in a bundle.

Don't mean to have a go here but I cannot think of how all this could be done at a price which would only run a small business for approx 1-2 days.

[Jarvo]

Hmm, I would say at that price you won't be in business very long.

For that price I would say there is no way you can give the attention to detail, research, design, approval, scope, service and many other things that go with this kind of work. You are realistically looking at less than 2 days to be able to create all of that without even going anywhere near maintenance or SEO.

What if someone came along and wanted a 100 page website, you make no mention of clarifying what a Website would contain for that price.
Or they wanted a 100 page brochure, that could take weeks to create depending on the content.

How can you afford to do all this as cheap as chips, is there a typo?

Web development could mean all manner of things and you would most certainly not manage to sustain a business by charging a one off price as low as that for ongoing development.

Search Engine Optimisation - again, this work can take hours, weeks, months, effort, dedication, onsite should really be a given at a good basic level, offsite is another different beast and you would not get very far with 400 quid on its own regarding SEO let alone in a bundle.

Don't mean to have a go here but I cannot think of how all this could be done at a price which would only run a small business for approx 1-2 days.

Hi Kev,

The details for the one stop package are correct; £399.99 for the services offered to me is an attractive proposition for anyone. As we know the current financial climate is damaging most people, families and businesses and in fairness; im not the only business cutting prices and adjusting costs per budgets.

The small print and finer details of the offer are detailed in the smallprint and is available upon request; obviously it would be made very clear prior to acceptance/commencing of work what every detail is, but make no mistake the offer is exactly what it says on the tin.

The website aspect of the package is simple; it can be e-commerce, basic, or whatever they need with a Maximum of 15 pages; again this is a fact that would be presented to any interested parties when discussing the particular requirements. The logo, business card, letter head design etc really isnt a huge task; it would take a day or two maximum; the SEO and web development site of the deal are simple; SEO is an ongoing thing but with web development its not something thats going to be frequent unless the original site is a mess obviously.

A small business in my case in particular has done and will continue to cost more or less peanuts to run each day or even week, the only costs included for me are £30 a month with the bank for the account; the software and everything else i own so the only running costs are the banking aspect and thats all.

Regards

Colin

[KevJaques]

I'm totally aware of the current climate, however, by lowering your prices to that which would essentially close most businesses you put your company at a disadvantage when things pick up as well as undercharging for initial work which I don't think would work well as a business model.

I also realise some of the smaller things do only take a couple of days, my point being is that your in also in the UK and what you are looking to charge would not seem to pay your own bills especially for the amount of time to put something of this sized package together.

Do you have professional indemnity insurance? Do you not consider corporation tax on these prices?
Your hourly rate for this work would be running into peanuts, can you pay your electricity bill with peanuts? I know for my electricity bill alone is more than 30 quid.

[Jarvo]

I'm totally aware of the current climate, however, by lowering your prices to that which would essentially close most businesses you put your company at a disadvantage when things pick up as well as undercharging for initial work which I don't think would work well as a business model.

I also realise some of the smaller things do only take a couple of days, my point being is that your in also in the UK and what you are looking to charge would not seem to pay your own bills especially for the amount of time to put something of this sized package together.

Do you have professional indemnity insurance? Do you not consider corporation tax on these prices?
Your hourly rate for this work would be running into peanuts, can you pay your electricity bill with peanuts? I know for my electricity bill alone is more than 30 quid.

Well think of it this way, the only way really:

A New Business has launched; they need a way of attracting clients, many companies out there already offer these services so they need to be something extra, something special, everyones running low on cash so people are trying to get the very best price for the most services, by offering what i do (which isnt long standing, just for a while) i can give people everything theyd need for a low price; in addition to building a client base which after one year could prove very fruitful for my own finances and aspects.

Thats the way i see it; my running costs are low and to be fair im not trying to make a million, im trying to make enough to live from and provide a service that is my own that will eventually move on to earning more and more and eventually a substantial amount rather than a minimum amount.

[Pixels Ink]

Hi Jarvo,
I understand your running costs are low, but by offering extremely low prices for things you are effectively making it hard for everyone else in the same trade, because to compete they will have to also lower their rates and its a downward spiral.

I posted an article not that long ago that you might want to read:

Educate Lowballers and Stop Lowballing


I understand that you are trying to generate new business, just be aware that by starting off low, it can be difficult to then start to charge a decent rate as you will have attracted clients that purely want to use you because you are cheap.

I think doing these low prices for a year is way too long and you'll build a reputation for being cheap rather than an excellent creative. At most you would want to do it for 3-6 months. I'm talking from bitter experience.

[Jarvo]

Hi Jarvo,
I understand your running costs are low, but by offering extremely low prices for things you are effectively making it hard for everyone else in the same trade, because to compete they will have to also lower their rates and its a downward spiral.

I posted an article not that long ago that you might want to read:

Educate Lowballers and Stop Lowballing


I understand that you are trying to generate new business, just be aware that by starting off low, it can be difficult to then start to charge a decent rate as you will have attracted clients that purely want to use you because you are cheap.

I think doing these low prices for a year is way too long and you'll build a reputation for being cheap rather than an excellent creative. At most you would want to do it for 3-6 months. I'm talking from bitter experience.

Hi Pixels,

That is a terrific article you have there; it isnt something i want to do forever, not even a year. What i meant by a year; was by the free optimisation etc then a year later theyll come back and pay the prices i set for then; its a marketing tactic, nothing else.

I dont want to create a bad atmosphere for anyone or anything here its just an attempt at gaining some much needed business and for doing it as low as possible.

[KevJaques]

I can see where you're trying to come from Colin, we're all pretty much in the same boat. I would argue that people will still pay for quality and there are already too many offering low prices. The main problem with that issue is because so many are trying to out bid each other at low prices they devalue their business and for example; if bidding, may be bidding anything from 5-20 people with low bids.

Now which one do you choose? There will only be 1 winner and pity them if they do get the work as they would probably be charging $1 for work which they would normally get 100 fold or more.
Not only that but 1 year or 6 months downline your clients will have paid practically nothing then you're hitting them with a brick wall saying well now it's going to cost you xxx.
Most will stop using your services and look to other cheap offers rather than stay with you, so something to be aware of. Of course you will get some clients who will stay with you as you have been giving a good service, however, suddenly abruptly insisting a charge is now due will not work well, it's not like offering life support then taking it away unless they agree to pay, ie ransom almost (possibly a poor analogy but you get my point).

I also appreciate that there is the perspective of desire, i.e. You have convinced them it's good and they are pretty much ready to buy.
And I also appreciate there are so many companies offering free things, some more than others. It seems especially online does not always mean free. Some people have a funny perception of what FREE means.

We're all trying to help each other here so my posts are not to be negative regarding your services. I also welcome the competition and can also appreciate at times collaboration might be more beneficial than trying to go it alone and not get a contract.
You can still get clients to pay for services if you're offering good value.

[Jarvo]

Very good point Kev, give me some advice from your point of view then; all them services i listed how much would you ask?

[KevJaques]

You could easily stick a zero on the end of your number and depending on the ongoing SEO,Dev then either an hourly or daily rate on top.

Even for a 15 page website it's not so much 15 pages its mainly 1 page (and all the thinking of how its reused across the other pages). As you need to design the 1st page, the subsequent pages are pretty much going to be the same bar inner content but still one page must be designed which involves other factors as you know.

As you're bundling all of this up, stick on a zero on the end and half that price (if you wanted to introduce a reduction), you are still then offering a good all in one service at more than a realistic price, you would then be in a much better position to change prices going forward. Don't sell yourself short.
It's also important to reflect this reduction in the bill, write down what it would have cost and then the discount price, you will be more likely to get repeat business if they know how much it could have cost them.

I would recommend reading High Income Consulting by Tom Lambert ISBN 1-85788-169-9 Although it's a little old it is still relevant regardless of climate.

Hope that helps.