[Disclosure - I work at YesGraph]
What are some lessons learned from Tipjoy (YC W08) that you're applying here or doing differently with running YesGraph?
I also find myself giving this advice to others, including YC batchmates. The hard part is being diligent in applying it.
The first TechCrunch launch for Tipjoy was when we turned the product on. And were were traveling, so we were fixing bugs in the airport. Don't couple your press launch with your product launch, kids
+1 and well said. When I had legal issues with a client irrationally withholding payment, my lawyer suggested to wait four days to respond. Seems like an eternity, especially considering it's double from what you tend to follow (48 hours), it's amazing how much more reasonable your response can be juxtaposed to responding immediately.
Did you do this for your first client? If so, how did it all go?
I did something similar - I offered to build the foundation of their website (a social networking site) for free as a trial. It only took a few nights and they liked what they saw. Shortly after, we negotiated and agreed upon a rate to continue development.
I left development to start consulting, and in the beginning I still had no idea of a competitive but profitable price stack. However I was very business minded, a week prior to leaving my field I just finished reading Dale Carnegie's book "How to Win Friends and Influence People".
Before I go further, let's stop and take a pause: this is a book that everyone needs to read, especially freelancers. I say especially these individuals because your livelihood is predicated not on a parent company managing image and taking a considerable chunk of the impact if you mess up. That being said, it is vital that freelancers read this book page for page, front and back to get a firm grasp of how to interact with people beyond "Do you need a website? Here's your website. Here's an invoice, alright have a good one". I read this book four times, and I'm reading it once more because in addition to being incredibly insightful: Dale Carnegie has a very conversational way of writing that makes this book an absolute joy to read.
Alright, ready for part two?
I had no idea of a profitable price stack, but after reading this book I had a good idea of how to approach people, propose ideas, listen to their needs and collaborate on a service that I could provide them. Still, I was stuck on what to charge. An idea came into my head, an old one that I'm sure is all over the web, debated from both sides, but an idea none the less. And this is what I told my first client:
"Before I quote you on this project that we're working on, I want to know what you think of the idea of free".
He was hooked, I had his attention. Free is an incredibly powerful word provided your ulterior motive is just. We worked together for three weeks as I helped him build his business, and as the time grew near for my involvement to end I gave him another incentive.
I offered him 5% on the next sale if he recommended a client that signed a contract to procure my services. By this point, I figured out that working on a retainer after concluding a 'sale' and ending a contract with a very happy client would be easier to secure than a rate structure that was predicated on the idea that I might end up having to bill more hours than was anticipated. The caveat was that he give no indication to whoever he would refer to me that he got free services, that was up to his discretion. I did not give him a line, a pitch or any sort of script. He ended up with $375 in his pocket, and a new customer.
Wow, your first client experience sounds ideal! Not only did he end up as your personal accountant, but you had him working for YOU as he looked for potential clients. That's a great use of resources and definitely sounds like it was worth your time investment for those few weeks.
Thanks for sharing and for the Dale Carnegie recommendation!
I'm actually looking to start out like this myself, and I found a small, poorly organized nonprofit that has a less than stellar website. They're dying to make a change, but they don't really want to put the time into it.
I suspect there are lots of nonprofits like this. Or smaller nonprofits that simply don't have websites. Soup kitchens and stuff might not be into the 21st century.
I'm actually looking to start out like this myself, and I found a small, poorly organized nonprofit that has a less than stellar website. They're dying to make a change, but they don't really want to put the time into it.
Good suggestion for Windows. One key feature for Sublime Text is the minimap and for those wanting that in TM, Julian Eberius developed a TM plugin - http://julianeberius.github.com/Textmate-Minimap/
The minimap plugin is cool looking, but it totally chokes on large files and I never really used it anyway. It also kind of bugs me that it's in a drawer instead of a pane (which is why I use Missing Drawer for the project pane http://code.google.com/p/textmate-missingdrawer/ )
