Programming partnership wanted

[Wade Preston Shearer]

>> Why? Demand  more! Don't  settle! Accepting  pay that  is sub-standard
>> pulls the industry down.
>
> Unless  the supply  of programmers  is low,  demanding more  money 
> isn't
> going  to get  you anywhere  as there  is a  good chance  there will  
> be
> someone willing to do the job  for less.

There will always be those that will do it for less, but why should 
you? I was not suggesting that you "demand more" to get more than you 
are worth. My comment was that you demand exactly what you are worth. 
If you think that you are worth a few hundred dollars, go ahead and 
work for peanuts. There will always be multiple categories developers: 
sweat shops and professional studios. There will also always be 
multiple categories of clients: those that do not care about quality 
and those that do. My comment was only to suggest that you charge what 
the market will bear; the industry standard. Undercutting the 
competition is good business, but dropping significantly below the 
standard hurts everyone and indeed pulls the value of the industry 
down.

For example, developing an entire e-commerce package for a client for a 
few hundred dollars once will make it extremely difficult to charge 
them more in the future! Once you have established your price point, 
you must be consistent. What if another client hears that you did it 
for only a few hundred dollars. Do you think that they will accept 
anything but the same? You can sell a billion hamburgers and make a 
living or you can selling a hundred automobiles and make a living.

They key is determining the worth of your product or service and 
communicating that to your customers. Give them a reason to pay you 
more than "someone willing to do the job  for less." Business is about 
perception of value and educating the customer. You can build a logo 
online, but it looks like crap. Many consumers don't have an eye for 
good design though and don't know any better. Thus, companies such as 
this (which I equate to "web design for a few hundred dollars") take 
advantage of this and deliver a sub-standard product for a 
significantly less price. This hurts the industry and makes hamburgers 
out of the beautiful artwork of professional designers and is very 
selfish. If these businessmen would value quality over quantity then we 
could both benefit "selling cars".
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