Why?

[webhead]

I just need to vent... ignore me, it's okay.

Why do people do this to me? I'm contacted to design a site. I offer ideas and they choose one. I set it up. They pay me the setup fee.

And I wait... and wait... and wait...

I never hear from them again. So I email. No bounce, no response. And I wait. I try again. Nothing.

Then, months later, I see they've started a new site someplace else. Butt ugly, poor organization, etc. I try to contact them to see if there was something I did wrong. No response.

It isn't just one incident, but many.

I decided to just do WordPress themes now, and made a system of my own just because I can. And to pass the time. (see http://www.dewdropwebs.com). Also have a tutorial site at http://www.omnitut.com . I hope for ad clicks.

I'm just a little demoralized.

[jason]

I think that happens to all of us. I'm pretty sure, in my case at least, that the clients look at the price I charge vs. what Joe Shmoe charges and figure they can get the same thing from him for cheaper. Of course I put a lot more effort into the job--hiring a real designer instead of trying to do it myself, taking the time to understand the client's needs to design a site that will grow with them, adhering to full web standards compliance and accessility guidelines, etc.

Web design/development/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is a tough business. It is one of those things is easy for anyone to do (to some extent) and money often speaks louder than portfolios to small businesses. To many non-technical or non-graphics-oriented people, a website is a website and a $500 website is a better deal than a $10,000 website (about the starting price range I've seen locally for a small business site, personally I price somewhere in between). Of course the money saved is lost again when you need to completely redesign in a year.

--Jason

[webhead]

Tanx jason. Thing is, it even happens with charity sites.

Ah well. Need to keep looking.

[Vin DSL]

I just need to vent... ignore me, it's okay.

Why do people do this to me? I'm contacted to design a site. I offer ideas and they choose one. I set it up. They pay me the setup fee.

And I wait... and wait... and wait...

I never hear from them again. So I email. No bounce, no response. And I wait. I try again. Nothing.

Then, months later, I see they've started a new site someplace else. Butt ugly, poor organization, etc. I try to contact them to see if there was something I did wrong. No response.

Were they Mormons?

[mattsiegman]

Now seriously vin, what does that have to do with anything?