Re: career in SQL/Database administration

> Are you serious??? How do you possibly make any money? Maybe
> I am just naive but here at CMD a flat rate quote is a minimum of 2.5x
> what we would normally charge JUST IN CASE the client (which will happen)
> decides to change direction midstream.
>

We _plan_ for revisions. We even have a form to make it easier for the
client. We have revisions programmed in to our timeline. We also have
the scope clearly in our contract. If a revision is outside of scope, we
change the contract.

We're a full-service shop, so we can charge a lot of money for things that
others can't. For example, we can charge $100/month for webhosting of a
single small site, just because people don't want to be dealing with
multiple companies. We don't offer our hosting services to the public,
because they do cost so much. But it's worth it for people getting a
full-service deal.

In addition, we are a graphics-design-oriented shop. Let me tell you,
graphics _sells_.

In addition, once you sell a job to one client, you can usually find
several other companies who want the same thing, and are willing to pay
the same price. Just a couple of modifications and there you go.

Establishing long-term relationships helps, too. For companies where you
already know how they work, the time required to build something is
trivially small - you already know their company, have their logos, and
they like your work and know how to deal with you.

Jon