Thanks for completing my new client form.
I look forward to working with you on your project(s).
When working on client projects, I have some tools and processes that I have developed over the years.
In general, I prefer to provide a fixed price quotation for projects. Once we appear to have a mutually agreed upon scope of work, I’ll forward an estimate for your approval. At the end of the project (or at progress points indicated in the estimate), I’ll invoice and my terms are Due upon Receipt (with reasonable expectations re: payment processes.)
I use Freshbooks to prepare and forward estimates for projects. You review and then must approve a project budget before work commences. When a project is completed, I will then invoice you using FreshBooks also. I accept payment via major credit card or Paypal. I will also accept checks in payment.
However, not every tasks fits the project mode, particularly if there is some investigation is required to determine the scope or if the task can be accomplished faster than preparing an estimate. In those cases, I will bill on an hourly basis at $85/hour. As a policy, I won’t work more than 5 hours on a project without preparing an estimate for the full project. When I invoice for hourly work, you’ll get a detailed invoice that indicates how many hours were expended against specific tasks.
In addition to Freshbooks, I use a number of other tools for communication. You may have already used my schedule booking tool – http://onebigidea.youcanbook.me I use this tool so that I can control my interruptions as well as make scheduling meeting very simple for clients. I do not charge for status meetings but I do charge for strategy and training sessions.
For more complicated tasks or projects with lots of details, I find it useful for I and the client to share a virtual whiteboard with a list of the open items and their status. If we get to that point, I will send you an invitation to share a http://trello.com board with me. We can include others as needed to ensure that everyone can see the open items and the status.
I also don’t work on source code without implementing a Version Control system. If you already has a Version Control system, we should consider using that for your web site. If not, I will maintain one of my own. At the end of our association, I will transfer the history to anyone you designate. The important take-away is that your code is your code and will be transferred immediately upon request.
Depending on circumstances, I may well throw a few more tools in the mix but these tend to be specific to circumstances.
Feel free to follow-up if any of this is confusing or you’d like more information. I will be introducing these tools as we go along.