website design? $$??
 

I have recently been approached by 2 companies to develop simple websites for them on the side. But i have no clue how to charge them.

Is it by page, by hours???and at what rate?

I do $75/hr for programming (php/db driven, etc). A coworker does it for $50/hr for web design, etc (no programming). A lot of it depends on complexity, whether you'll be doing updates or if you'll design templates so that the customer can do the updates, etc.

thx steve. I think i am the $50/hr guy...

Don't know crap about web design, but as a former consultant, find out what the client wants, perhaps give him a conceptual and a BUDGET estimate. Spell out clearly what you'll give him for the BUDGET, and call that something like Phase I. If you can, get him to agree to pay you for the conceptual. Afterall, your still working on developing his work product.

Final tip, when billing him, if you had phone calls, put them in the bill and indicate "No Charge". You don't want your clients thinking you start the meter every time they call. And if they feel comfortable calling you, your talking to your client about MORE WORK.

bid it out to a subcontractor and then double that. :)

I don't charge by the hour. Figure out the scope of the job, write a detailed statement of work with deliverables and timelines, and a total amount. If you want you can do ala carte. Use hours as a guide to figuring out how much to charge, but if I'm a client (which I am on a project right now), I want to know what I'm going to get, when I'm going to get it, and how much its going to cost. I don't care what you charge and hour or what your subs charge.

Similarly when I bid a job, I don't talk hour or day rate unless they just want me consulting/thinking. If they want a deliverable, that's what they pay for. It is my business how much time I spend creating it.