Hi Everyone,Do people think there's much business sense in asking clients to pay a monthly or quarterly fee for a web site instead of a once off lump payment? I feel many customers are put off the price tag of a good site which may be about 2K. I was thinking a subscription type system could create a nice stream of income for a web designer and also have the effect of making it seem cheaper to the customer? Would be interested in hearing from anyone who's tried this approach and if it worked.Thanks,John

with some clients that's how you'll end up getting your money - in drips and drabs, a lot of people don't like paying unfortunately

It depends what market you are aiming at. I thought about this for awhile. I have a web design "product" I sell and there is an up front cost for set up and an ongoing monthly charge as well.

Ideally, a good business is built on recurring income. Remember you are going to be "financing" your customers purchase of your services for approx. 12 months before you are getting a decent return. Can you afford to live that long? Will your customers still be in business in 12 months time? Will they change providers or get a new site in 6 months? If you cost a website at 2k but instead charge 200 per month for it, it'll take you 10 projects to be getting 2k a month. How long until you build that up? Can you sustain yourself in the meantime? You'd probably need 4k a month so make that 20 projects.

This pricing model works well for say hosting companies because they just add you to their books with not much work involved really. The more they add, the more it builds. Web design is different. I'd suggest maybe splitting your costs if you want to go this route - 1k set up and 100 a month. This way you are covering expenses and building up a recurring revenue stream.

Best of luck!

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David Behan
Web Design | Mortgages | Memorial Websites | Digital Printing | Golf Holidays Portugal | Conservatories

Good idea David! You're right, at least that way I can have an instant payment and still enjoy a recurring stream of income, which is what I'm aiming at. I'm working full-time so this web design gig is only part-time at the moment with a view to going full time down the road.John

Well, i'd charge a seperate price for the actual design process and possibly a yearly fee for hosting the site and domain renewal. Then possibly another yearly fee for maintenance, not too much though as you don't want to put the customer off.

Thanks for the tips,
What I'm trying to do is start a small business that will build a stream of income for me with each client I add. Instead of doing a web design job for a client, get paid and that's it, I'd like to keep this client for life by providing them a means to pay a relatively small setup fee and then pay a monthly or quarterly subscription fee. I'd like to get them to start thinking of their web site as a service much like their mobile phone or internet access.
Does that make business sense? Will people go for that? Should I be looking at other ways to create my precious "stream of income?"
Thanks,
Bearaman

its not that its a bad idea, its just that people might not be so willing to accept it.