The typical freelancer spends his or her energy on the technical craft–writing coding, design UI, creating plugins, etc. Yet the most important skill for your success and livelihood is pricing. By learning to price well, you can be selective about your customers and the type of work you do. And, you can actually work less while making more money. … [Read more...]
The History of the Billable Hour with Jon Lax – 006
Most professionals (accountant, lawyers, designers, developers) charge by the hour because that is how it has always been done. Jon Lax has done the research to explain why. In the early 1900s, an attorney at Boston Legal Aide asked MIT for assistance managing a backlog of cases. The result was the creation of the billable hour for professional services. Jon says it is a playbook designed for the wrong era. … [Read more...]
Value Pricing vs. Agile Development with Wes McClure – 005
The purpose of agile development is to create software successfully by adapting to changes during the development cycle. Unfortunately in practice, agile can wander from the outcome the customer needs. Wes McClure believes a commitment to value and agile development can coexist when you combine a strategic objective that does not change with flexibility in the manner necessary to achieve it. … [Read more...]
Why Value Is Important for Software with Wes McClure – 004
Since software development is a technical craft, it is easy to focus on the details instead of the big picture. However, failure to focus on why the project is important can doom the endeavor before it starts. By starting with the value to customer, software development has a higher chance of success because every action contributes to the primary goal. … [Read more...]
The Value of Your Brand with Melissa Hawks – 003
Your story is the core of your brand. If you know your story, you can tell your audience. If the audience connects with your story, they will share your message with others. On the flip side, if you do not have a story, you do not have a brand. Melissa Hawks explains the value of your brand to your customers. … [Read more...]
The Value of Project Management with Ed Kless – 002
What is the essential ingredient for a successful project? You may be surprised to learn it is having a value conversation. Ed Kless says you can be so good at having a value conversation that project management becomes irrelevant. Before a project begins, you need to ask the customer why the project is important and what success looks like. … [Read more...]
Why I Switched to Value Pricing with Kirk Bowman – 001
In the fall of 2009, I participated in a panel discussion on estimating and billing practices for software developers. I took the position that hourly billing is the only way to charge the customer for custom development. At the same time, another panelist said that billing by the hour places an arbitrary limit on your income. That planted the seed to change my business model forever. … [Read more...]
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