Show Me The Money!

Time slot: 
March 9th, 3:45 PM - 4:45 PM
Room: 
Sheraton 2 & 3
Track: 
Business and Strategy
Experience: 
Beginner

For DrupalCon San Francisco, I polled the top Drupal shops to find out what they charge and shared the results in my session & online through Lullabot's blog. The results were eye-opening, and in some cases, mind-blowing! Let's open that door even further.

I've been crafting a much more comprehensive pricing survey that includes all sizes and pedigrees of Drupal shops (as well as freelancers). I'll share the results, and in this session, we'll hear from a panel of people at each level of pricing to hear *why* they charge what they do.

Let's answer such questions as:

When enterprise shops charge top prices, where does all that the money go?
How do shops that focus on non-profits make it work within those smaller margins?
Where should you be sitting on the scale?
What pricing strategies can you employ to find the type of client that you want to serve?
How can *you* know what to charge and when to raise your rates?

James Walker - As the first person on the planet to work as a full time Drupal-er (starting way back in 2003), @walkah is well-suited to talk about rates from a freelancer's perspective. James also co-founded Bryght, the first company to offer Drupal hosting, and worked as Lullabot's first Director of Education. Back in the freelance game, he'll share his thoughts and experience from throughout the years.

Eric Gundersen - As president and co-founder of Development Seed (creators of Open Atrium and Aegir), Eric runs one of our most beloved and diverse Drupal shops. With a client base that includes the World Bank, the UN, and The New America Foundation, Dev Seed has been making pricing decisions in the non-profit and NGO space for eight years.

Matt Westgate - As Lullabot co-founder and CEO (and Liza's business partner), Matt is on the ground daily making pricing decisions alongside enterprise clients. Matt will share how he has helped clients like The Grammy's, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and MTV UK stay within budget while still affording to keep a rockstar team of Drupal luminaries happily employed.

Video at archive.org.

Intended audience: 

Business owners, freelancers, entrepreneurs, project managers, business development people, OS fiends, and anyone that wants to make a living doing Drupal.

Questions answered by this session
Question 1: 
When enterprise shops charge top prices, where does all that the money go?
Question 2: 
How do shops that focus on non-profits make it work within those smaller margins?
Question 3: 
Where should you be sitting on the scale?
Question 4: 
What pricing strategies can you employ to find the type of client that you want to serve?
Question 5: 
How can *you* know what to charge and when to raise your rates?
Show Me The Money! has been selected and voting is closed.

Comments

Liza Kindred's full keynote

Liza Kindred's full keynote on Open Source Business Models from DrupalCamp Montreal 2010 is available in full HD video from hd.drupalcampmontreal.com. James Walker was also there.

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