A big reason a lot of us don’t get ahead of the game is because we don’t charge enough for our services.  There is always the pressure we face to drop our prices in order to successfully get a client, but sometimes we go way too low.  I think everyone has done it, especially when you need the money.  The problem is that sometimes this comes back to bite us in the ass.  A client could come back later on and expect you to charge dirt cheap rates again.

Its good to know what the average yearly salary is for the work that you do.  I could be classified under both Web Designer & Web Developer.  I am able to design sites, and code them too.  When I say Web Developer I am not talking about someone who knows how to use Dreamweaver.  I am talking about someone who is able to code in standards-compliant XHTML, CSS and knows PHP, SQL, Javascript & AJAX, Ruby On Rails, and to a lesser extend even ASP.  Now, you don’t have to know all of those, but generally someone who just knows XHTML and CSS isn’t considered a Web Developer.  In my opinion you shouldn’t even be considered yourself a Web Designer if you can’t code your designs in a text editor without the use of tables.

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Take a look at these numbers:

Web Designer: $50,372 / year
Web Developer: $70,682 / year

Thats just the national average, but of course that changes state by state.  Generally, $20/h is the baseline for someone experienced, but starting out with a company, and thats only $38,400 /year.  Just kind of keep that in mind.  If you know a web site is going to take you 3 days to finish then don’t charge $200 for it.  That would be like charging around $8.33 an hour.  McDonalds employees, from what I hear, generally make $8 - $9 an hour in most places.  Anyway, some things to keep in mind.  Know Your Worth!