Value isn’t an actual number. Though, it seems that our culture has taught up that putting a value to something means that it has a specific monetary value. It’s faulty logic though.
In my industry, website design ranges from a hundred dollars or so to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s not because one person (or company) is that much better though. I can’t say or prove I’m exactly 200 times better of a designer than the guy that only charges $500 to do a site. It’s the value that I bring that gets me paid more.
And when I say “value that I bring” I partially mean the return the project will get, the ROI. If I’m advising a client to spend $10,000 on a website, the plan is that they will make at least that back at some point because of it.
The second part of it is the value of my skills that come with the project. Having the years experience and hundreds of hours of knowledge add value just as well as the fact that their project will return an ROI and then some.
So when I talk with client about a project from this point forth, it will no longer be based solely on my hourly rate or what I can do. It will instead be based on what value I bring to the project and how well it will work out for them in the long run. Being sure to get solid numbers, such as the lifetime value of a client that will come to them from the website, will help to push this even more. It’s the best way for me to get my best work out there and it’s the best way for the client to get the best results possible.
What do you think?