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Thread: Making free site demos for clients...

  1. #1
    Harry Tuttle phantomflanflinger's Avatar
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    Often prospective/new clients like to see a dummy/demo of what their site will look like when it's finished, because they can't picture what's in our heads, even if we explain.

    We want to impress them and get them to spend a few grand on a nice Flash site, (not two HTML pages and a little PHP poll) so, we make one - free, no obligation. And they often see it and say "it's not as good as I imagined the site would look". And I feel like saying "of course it doesn't, it's a dummy, not even a WIP!" It's as if they're about to buy a house and judge it on the basis of the foundations. "I can't live in there, with all that wet cement and no roof"!

    Anyone got any tips etc. on how to make a dummy that doesn't put clients off?
    We don't want to spend ages making dummies if they're free, but we want them to look good and open purse strings. Or, should we start charging for dummies? Other designers charge for dummies, but our clients all love getting a free one. Are we too generous?

  2. #2
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    What i would do is make 5 to 6 different looking pages.
    In different themes what I mean by that is this.

    Make 1 Flashmaniac page full with animation and music.
    1 plain looking
    and so on...

    when you go to your client just show them this is how you can design and let them go with the flow...
    They will tell you this is how we want it and then you get a good idea of what they would like.

    ???
    J

  3. #3
    Harry Tuttle phantomflanflinger's Avatar
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    Five or six dummies? I think maybe one's too many.

    We have almost a hundred sites online, we always show them a few and ask which they like best. We also say "choose any site on the Net and we'll make you something similar".

    Clients don't like the idea of their site coming from a template, they like to think it's all hand-crafted just for them. I was just looking for some tips on making a good dummy and advice on whether or not we should charge.

  4. #4
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    Originally posted by phantomflanflinger
    I was just looking for some tips on making a good dummy and advice on whether or not we should charge.
    Why do you want to make a dummy if you guys already have over a hunderd sites up??? Dont waste your time doing extra work, if you have the opportunity to show them your actual work. I didnt have a lot of clients in the past since I wasnt really working freelance BUT if I had waht you have I would never ever make a dummy unless it is a demo for that specific client.
    This case I would try to include the price in the charges and of course no work until I get some money...

    J
    ???

  5. #5
    Harry Tuttle phantomflanflinger's Avatar
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    Having a lot of sites online isn't always enough to persuade them!

    Plus if they really like the dummy, we end up making more profit. Here's how: they say (or, we guess) they only want to spend around £1000, we show them a dummy, get them excited, but tell them to finish the site in this style will cost more, maybe even say, £3000. They like it so much they extend the budget.

    But the other side of that is they might lack the imagination to percieve what the rest of the site would look like, say "hey-this demo is just a demo, it's not as good as a site, durrr" or just say, no thanks, we can only budget for £1000.

    Making dummies costs us time though. Some advice on how to make good dummies easily that aren't too complex but make clients want to see more would be good. Although, we've been trying to strike that balance for years.

    One thing we thought of is: a dummy is never published. We could steal chunks of other sites and show them to clients to get them excited. Then, we make a site that's as good but different enough not to be a pastiche. No publication = no plagiarism.

  6. #6
    Modding with Class JabezStone's Avatar
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    First off, I send my clients on an Internet field trip, along with my Project Profiler for them to fill out. We then gather their responses and provide 3 comps with varying design for them to choose/modify. These comps are done in Photoshop, and are non-working graphics. After one is chosen, the comp is cut up and inserted into Dreamweaver or Flash (whichever is to be used for the job) with all applicable code.

    If anyone is interested in viewing my project profiler, let me know... just email me.

  7. #7
    Retired Mod aversion's Avatar
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    nice idea jabez, we always do something similar, get the client to look at a bunch of key sites relevant to their project so we can get the idea whst turns them on. We would never produce anything but a flat graphic mock up, however many we feel is necessary...

    it's important to remember that while it's good to try and get as much work as possible it's often a waste of time trying too hard to impress clients. Even if you get the project chances are that you won't be able to produce everythign you promised, or you do and the users hate it and the client gets bad feedback and blames you.

    i always find it's best to tell the client what is genuinely possible, tell them that other web designers will tell them everything they want to hear but that in reality a good site is one that works for it's users and that's why you're hiring us.

    most people, especially people in business will appreciate you being straight with them, they'll feel like they learnt something and weren't patronised, plus they'll feel like every other sychophantic web designer they come across is being patronising


  8. #8
    Harry Tuttle phantomflanflinger's Avatar
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    "Even if you get the project chances are that you won't be able to produce everythign you promised, or you do and the users hate it and the client gets bad feedback and blames you."
    Cynical! We don't have disappointed clients - except for the idiots that think their site will come top of every search engine 0.1 seconds after it's launched (sound familiar?).

    It's a good idea about doing a static graphic in Photoshop. Looks good, but there's alost nothing to steal from a static graphic.

    But, to charge or not to charge for dummies?

  9. #9
    Retired Mod aversion's Avatar
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    if you're dealing with professionals always charge.



  10. #10
    Modding with Class JabezStone's Avatar
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    Originally posted by aversion
    if you're dealing with professionals always charge.


    Wholeheartedly agree.

  11. #11
    Harry Tuttle phantomflanflinger's Avatar
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    I thought perhaps:

    Free static image demo of the site, no obligation at all.
    Small fee for swf demo.

    Dummies do get 'em to spend more if they look good.

  12. #12
    Modding with Class JabezStone's Avatar
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    Originally posted by phantomflanflinger
    I thought perhaps:

    Free static image demo of the site, no obligation at all.
    Small fee for swf demo.

    Dummies do get 'em to spend more if they look good.
    Well, that's true, really. It really depends on who your client is. I almost always charge for demos, however I have made exceptions. Usually only if I know the contract is basically a done deal.

  13. #13
    Harry Tuttle phantomflanflinger's Avatar
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    Maybe this is relevant: we have no blue-chip clients. I wish we had just one, I think things would snowball from there with the blue-chips.

  14. #14
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    Argh!! Never, ever do work for nothing!! (unless it's for charity). All that promotes is the "shopping around" concept, and downgrades the percieved value of our services.

    Would an architect build a dummy model of a house for a client? Of course not, the client would decide on his previous work and from discussions between them. This is EXACTLY as it should be for any design work.

    Cheers
    Dave

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