Free Websites Are Paid For By Web Designers

The Art of Pricing Websites has a great article on saying no to spec work in the web development community. Read it if you’re considering doing a site on spec and just say no.

Been There Done That

I’m not proud of it but I’ve done a few jobs on spec when I started out in the industry and none of them were worth it. I’ve also done free websites for friends and a few churches but these were by choice. I did them because I wanted to help an individual or group.

One thing that most people never realize is that none of these websites was really ever free. They take a lot of time to design and develop, time that I could have spent working on sites for paying clients. There have been many instances where I’ve put off client work so I could work on some of these “free” websites. In the end, I the designer, end up paying for the free websites.

Time Is Valuable

I don’t want to sound bitter because I’m not but sometimes it annoys me when people think that creating websites is simple. Some people think that if you have a copy of DreamWeaver or if you’re “good with computers” that making websites is easy. It’s not.

The older I get and the more established my business becomes, the more I value my time. I’m fortunate that I’m always busy with client work. It’s a struggle to stay on top of it all and for the most part I love what I do. The one thing I always wish I had more of is time.

Unsurprisingly, this desire for more time isn’t so I can work on another free website. I’d rather be reading a book or taking photos at the edge of a quiet lake. This might sound selfish but unless you have some balance in your life it’s easy to burn out and resent your day to day work.

Posted in Web Development at 2:25 PM