No. One of the benefits of working online is that we’re able to help people here in our local area and just about anywhere else in the world. For clients outside of our local area (and even for clients here locally), we use several means of communication to keep in touch and keep clients updated on the status of their projects, including:

• Phone (one-on-one and group calls)
• Email
• Online project tracker
• Web based live demos (where we can discuss aspects of your project online and in real-time)

We don’t base our fees on an hourly rate.  Instead, our fees are per project.  This is more fair for our clients and ensures they know exactly how much they’ll be paying for what services.

For instance, if it takes us longer to accomplish a particular task, you shouldn’t have to pay more due to our estimates being off the mark.  In addition, depending on the needs of your particular project, more than one person might be required to work on different aspects of your project, each with different skill sets.  This makes it difficult and impractical to establish a purely hourly rate.

Although we offer a wide range of web development possibilities, we tailor our suggestions to meet the needs and budget of each client.

The cost for a web development project is determined by a number of factors.  The main factors include:

• Complexity of the project (this is the primary factor)
• Amount of design work needed for the project
• Estimated number of users for the finished product
• Amount of content creation / copywriting needed for the site

Because of these factors, and the fact that they’re much different from one client to the next, there’s no way to give an accurate estimate on how much a web development project would cost without an initial consultation.

However, we also realize that potential clients would like a rough idea of how much they should expect to invest in having a web application created and how long they should expect it to take to complete.

Our web development projects typically require an investment of $2,500 – $30,000+.  We generally provide clients with frequent updates as we complete major features of the project, showing clients that basic functionality as features are added.  Our goal is to have an initial version of the application ready for our clients to test within 30-60 days.  This version may not include all the features requested by the client and may still require a bit of design work to meet our standards, but this initial version will be something clients can “kick the tires on” to ensure we’re on the right track.

Our rates for mobile app development, like most programming projects, vary based on the complexity of the project, the level of graphic design work needed, and the timeframe the client requires (among other factors).  For that reason, it’s difficult to give precise figures in terms of costs for mobile application development.  However, here are a few guidelines, just to give you some rough, ballpark numbers:

• For an application just for the iPhone, we suggest a budget of at least $5000 and a timeframe of at least 2 months
• For an application just for the iPad, we suggest a budget of at least $5000 and a timeframe of at least 2 months
• For an application for both the iPhone and the iPad, we suggest a budget of at least $7000 and a timeframe of at least 3 months

Keep in mind, these are very rough figures and there’s always room to work with clients as we narrow down the features that are needed, especially if you’re talking about version 1 of your application.  Generally, we can come up with creative solutions to match your budget and timeframe while still delivering a quality, attractive product.