[thelist] RE: How to Talk Down to the Client

chris hardy lists at semioticpixels.com
Wed Dec 8 18:03:33 CST 2004


But a few of my clients have begun relying on me for 
> more and more technical support, sometimes well outside the 
> scope of web development. I've been pondering just how to 
> structure a definition of my services for my site and where 
> I'll personally draw the line on what I'll do. (Or if I 
> should hire someone who's better with networking and hardware 
> issues, and branch out a bit. *G*) 

It depends upon what you enjoy doing. If you prefer web work, you might find
that building an alliance with a service contractor can be more lucrative -
because chances are they get calls for websites.

In my first web dev. business incarnation, we were willing to do any work
that paid. It was exhausting and too broad and I knew we were in trouble
every time I stumbled trying to explain what exactly we did. I still do some
system administration for a few clients and I provide training and support
to a few people. But I don't go out of my way to advertise it.

 When I'm ready to promote sysadmin services (I'm working on my RedHat
certification), I'll probably develop a separate website altogether to
promote those services and it'll probably have a different dba name too.
Reason: I don't want to dilute my service offering too much.

Also, if you're going to do support work, make sure you have an
indemnification clause, especially if you're doing any data recovery.

hth
- chris





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