... The Business Aspects Of Web Work

• who owns the site

was working on a contract and the subject of copyright has come up - typically who owns the finished site ? - i would have thought that a client would expect to own his or her site, but is this the case, or does it vary ?

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• VAT on services to U.S. Clients

Does anybody know whether we should be charging VAT on services to U.S. based clients?

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• Outsource to India. Wordpress Joomla Templates

Hi Everyone, I'd like to commission some templates to be built for Open Source Software. Primarily looking at getting some Joomla templates and Wordpress templates made cheaply in India. I'm wondering what website is best to post to for this kind of request and what I should expect to pay for something that is of decent (no perfect) quality. Also if anyone has done this before and has any advice I'm all ears. Its not for a client, the templates are for me to provide to the Open Source Community. I'd create them myself, but I have such little time these days to do it myself and I'm a bit of a Web Standards Perfectionist. Also should I do a mockup in Photoshop first or just let them come up with a design concept? Also apologies if this is in the wrong section.

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• Suit or Smart Casual

Just wondering what the others wear to sales meetings or does it depend on the type of client?

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• Quote or Estimate

Hi - I have been doing design work for some time now but just within the last year i have started my own web design company( and this forum is a welcome find :) ) . I have done a few jobs commercially but I am wondering is the norm to give a quote or an estimate. I have read elsewhere that for web design it's bad to give a quote because you cant take every change of mind (from client ) and every eventuality into consideration and so it would be better to give an hourly rate and an estimate. However I notice that some of the businesses I have given an estimate to are expecting a quote. What are people's opinions on this.

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• A few questions

I am not a freelancer, but am preparing to become one, and have a few questions for the novices to put my mind to rest!! If I base myself in Ireland, is there any charges for doing work for someone in USA or someone in say, Zanzibar? What method of payment do you all use? Which is better/secure? Is PayPal good? or cheques? In Ireland, how often would you come across a client who refuses to pay, or turns into roger the dodger? Because I've read from a previous thread on this forum that clients here are notorious for it..? Is hosting your clients site the best way for collateral until you receive final payment? Is there an essential must have book that gives you all the information you need for doing business in Ireland, copyright issues (for Ireland), samples of contracts you can use, samples of all other legal documents??? A client has a business and doesnt have a website. He contacts you throught email and asks you to design a site. The name of his company is "XYZ". You've never heard of XYZ before, and you complete the site for him. What would happen if XYZ already existed and the client was breaking some copyright law, would you be also in the wrong ie could any legal action be taken against you for designing a logo for XYZ and a website?

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• What should be in a contract

Hi, I'm curently getting a website built with a freelance web developer. We've agreed on a price for the website build and he is now ready to begin coding. We do not have a contract drawn up though. I'm just curious as to what it should include so we are both legally protected?

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