Marketing Materials: Scenarios you are likely to find yourself into if you benchmark prices with the lowest available.

The other day I received an email from a person who wanted a website done for his company.

Within few mails I realized that this guy’s main priority is the price. Now, I’m not saying pricing is unimportant; in fact, I believe it is one of the most important component of a good sale.

Yet how tactful and patient can one be if a prospect is benchmarking prices based on enlace and getafreelancer.com?

But before that let me describe the situation. He wanted a simple corporate website whose purpose was to inform the public about the company’s services.

So I quoted my price and, as expected, I got a mail saying that the price was “outrageously high.” Apparently, his friend’s company paid a sum for their website that was just 1/3rd of the price I quoted (only later did I realize this is the price I normally charge just for the UI design).

I politely refused to come down on the price and eventually let go of the assignment but not before that person had planted the seeds of discontent in my brain.

Seeds of Discontent

You see, the moment he said he can get it done for 1/3rd of my price I got restless.

What if he was true?

What if there is someone out there who provides everything I provide but for 1/3rd of the price?

What if..

I couln't bear it anymore and though I knew how this would end I asked him to provide his friend’s website URL so I could just take peek and satisfy myself.

Here’s my audit of that website:

• No information architecture
• Content is "me-too" type: leading edge technology blah blah
• No site map, search and other essentials of a website
  
• Messed up code that can piss of all search engines in first crawl
  
• Same-old stock imagery
  
• Inconsistent navigation and menus
• UI looks like it’s downloaded straight from a template site
• Difficult to differentiate with other sites and stand out

Final analysis: the website stinks!

Did you get what happened?

By going for low cost web develoment that gentleman thought of short term gain at the cost of long term dividends! Bad business sense...

Of course he got a site for very less but I would hate to cut his celebration short to bring to his notice just how much he is losing because of the sub-standard website.

He paid peanuts, he got monkeys in return. He wanted champagne but he wished to pay the price of a beer bottle.

In our industry, anyone who wants a sales copy, brochure, website or any other marketing material can get for almost any price. Sure you’ll get the price you want but rest assured you will never get the quality that is required for the assignment.

Do not fall into this pit of benchmarking with lowest rate for a job. Just because you can get a website for $200 does not mean it will bring you the desired results.

And in conclusion, if anybody wants a website within $200 or so please head to elance or getafreelancer.com and you’ll find someone or the other who will do the work for the price you say.

And if you need anyone to correct the mess will follow the low-cost design and development, yours truly is always there.

Contact Vishal Nayak to discuss your copywriting and marketing needs!