How to Correctly Quote for a WordPress Project

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Many of you have chosen Freelancing as your living. And trust me, I know how important it is for you to get the client’s attention and trust. “Quote” is a term for estimated pricing a freelancer or a company will be charging to its client. Quoting is an art and as a freelancer, you must master it.

In an elaborate form, a quote depends on the nature of the client and the project.

If you’re working for a new client or if you’re working on a big project, you might want to opt for a well-structured quote marking all the detailed costing categorically. And if you are working with your old clients or if in a small scale project, a one-page quote will suffice.

Efficient Quoting

In order to quote effectively, you must do some on-net research about the standard pricing and cost of different assets that might be used in the project.

Apart from the above-mentioned point, you must jot down the following facets which will be incredibly helpful in structuring a quote for the clients.

  • Project Management time
  • Design & Development time.
  • The cost of any purchasing like premium plugins & plugin license.
  • The cost of any other resources such as stock photographs etc.
  • Estimated extra time for some work which is quite new to you (In case the client wants you to work on such plugins or themes you’re not familiar with, so estimated time to learn about their functioning).
  • The cost of server space or hosting or registration of domain if required.

The list of these elements can incredibly guide you to set realistic and accurate prices for your services as a WordPress developer.

“Find out what your clients need and fill them better than anyone else, and you’ll dominate your entire market.” Lisa Macqueen

Charging dilemma: Should I charge per project or per hour?

After having a fair idea about the costing, comes the charging conundrum. Often a freelancer ends up thinking how should I charge the client? On an hourly basis or on a project basis?

 
Now, there is a myth that choosing on an hourly basis can lead you to good payments, however, some myths also follow up with per-project basis that they bring more justification for high payments.

In my view, both payments are equally balanced with the pros and cons associated with them.
 
If you choose payments on an hourly basis, you will remain certain that the time in the project is equally balanced with the payment received. The con in this system follows up as what if you estimated a particular project and finished it earlier than expected time, you’ll be paid less. This means if you’re fast, you’ll be paid less!
 
To avoid such an incident, try to develop a system that can let your client know about the deviated time which itself is time-consuming.

On the other side, if you opt for payments on the project basis, your client will be certain about his budget and will remain sorted throughout. And If you finished the project earlier, it will result in getting good payment in lesser time (If you work faster, prefer per project basis payment). The only con with this system is you will never get paid extra for working extra hours.
 
Looking to hire a subcontractor – Be advised!
 
If you’re thinking to hire a subcontractor, it is advised that in your quote charge your client higher than what you pay to your subcontractor.

Make Order Out of Chaos

“The creative artist is the one wanting to make order out of chaos. The rest of us just accept disorder -if we even recognize it- and get a bang out of our five beautiful senses, if we’re lucky.”

Ursula Nordstrom in Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom

While freelancing, and in general life as well, I always prefer itemized quotes. And so does the client. The client has every right to know what he is paying for. For this you can make a simple outline with these terms:

  • Design Work
  • Development Work
  • Project Management Time
  • Software/hosting/any other expenditure
  • Also, quote an hourly rate for extra work (An Ace)

So, bearing these things in mind, start writing your quote, I am pretty sure this will help you in many ways to provide your explicit success in freelancing.
 
Now, you understand the rudimentary facets of the quote, let me give you a complete illustration of how things are to be done in specifics.

Cover Letter.

Cover Letter is just like a glorification section, where you should jot your brownie points down. This is important because a cover letter is like the first impression that you don’t want to ruin in any way.
 
Dear Mr. Client,
 
I am writing to you in response to your advertisement for “Project YX”. As a cutting edge freelance web designer, I can provide your firm with all the Internet expertise you will need to complete your website project.
 
In my current capacity, I am a [freelance web designer] in charge of [creating and maintaining a large retail website]. I find that my exceptional organizational skills and my ability to communicate with all levels of management allow me to find success with each and every project. I have years of experience in turning client’s needs into a reality and I would be honored to put those years of experience to work for your organization.
 
I look forward to discussing my credentials with you over the phone or Skype and setting up a personal interview at your earliest convenience.
 
Sincerely yours,
Your Name

Make sure that you highlight your skills in an impressive way and try to keep it short and simple.

Now, after responding to the client, you probably will get a reply from him/her. Now, this will act as a signal to start working on your next action which leads us to the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
 

ETA and Queries

ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) is a fancy word that is nowadays immensely popular among freelancers. This particular section consists of a detailed time-distribution log, which will guide your client to have an exact idea of the time that you’re planning to invest in the project.

Also, I would like to recommend you to add a section of queries you might have regarding the project. This also left an impression of professionalism to the client.

ETA section:

Query section: 

 
Be advised to plan your ETA deeply. This will be your commitment, few hours up or down is OK, but try to minimize it as much as you can. The queries are also to be added to clarify if any confusion about the project is to be resolved.

Pricing

Pricing you have to mention either in hourly rate or project-wise. It is up to you how you approach the client for a price. Still, you can use this template (If charging on project basis)

Cost Breakdown

  1. Home Page Design & Layout→$XXX
  2. API Integration→ $XXX
  3. Installation of plugins (MailChimp & WP Rocket) → $XXX
  4. Link setup for live score and payment gateways → $XXX
  5. Add more activities if required → $XXX

Total Cost→ $XXX.XX

For those who want to charge hourly, they can add one more row in the ETA section about your per hour rate.
 
Important things to keep in mind while quoting a client:

  • Always make sure that you acknowledged the client’s terms and conditions in the quotation. You can state it as “I have evaluated the project in detail and agrees to your terms and conditions”.
  • Always mention when the invoice is to be paid, You can use this Format:

    Payment
    • 30% → Before the project as Advance.
    • 25% → After 55% commencement of the project.
    • 45% → After completing the entire project.
  • Always make clear to your client that you don’t appreciate any kind of late payments. Quote him with 10% extra charge if the payment goes late.

 Please do share it if you find it helpful, Also let me know your views about the quotes through the comment section. I am just a comment away from you if you have any queries.

Kate Sheren

Kate Sheren works for WordSuccor Ltd. as a WordPress developer. She is an expert on customizing WordPress themes with proven track records. She is also a blogger and loves to share her knowledge through WordPress tutorials. If you are about to hire a professional WordPress developer, Kate can prove to be the right choice. Follow her on Twitter and Linkedin.

By Kate Sheren

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