Stupid rock and hard place.

I've been involved in web development for roughly 10 years now. I recall my very first venture into that crazy newfangled technology known as the internet and "web pages." Angelfire! That was where I had my first website. Then I moved to Geocities, then... uhm, I think I got my own domain? Can't remember much.

Anyway, up until 3 or 4 years ago I had considered web development a hobby. It comes very easily to me, and I find it to be very enjoyable. I had no idea how valuable the skill was up until I went to work for a smaller company a couple of years ago. I was stunned at how much my boss was charging clients for what I considered simple. Then it occured to me - it's not SIMPLE to them. They're paying for a service they don't want to bother with.

That made a ton of sense. For instance, why would *I* try and fix a messed up cluster of pipes underneath my sink and in my wall when I cold pay someone to do it? Not only that, they're good at it, experienced, and will do a far better job than I could with my severe lack of knowledge. The exact same thing applies to web development. Why would someone with very little interest in web dev want to bother with it when they could pay someone to build their site, to their specifications, and do it right the first time?

Then I started to appreciate my skill and experience so much more.

So the message I wanted to clarify here is: Web development, especially in the professional realm, is NOT something that's just slapped together. There's a science behind it. If someone offers to build you a website, and they do a good job, pay them handsomely. You get an awesome website, they get paid, everybody wins.

That's how it should be.

*sigh*

No more favors. From now on I charge full price to everyone. Don't like it? Go buy some templates and slap something together. You get what you pay for.

• Business/Leadership
• Personal
• Web Design/CSS