Freelancer Tools
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- mirola
i'm writing a business plan for an idea i've got for a flash-based site which provides tools such as a calander, task manager, invoicing system, basic project management and file upload for freelancers who work on their own. there are about 250 other products similar but which are aimed at studios and companies.
i'd be interested to hear what people think would be useful for a web-based freelancer tool box. i plan on charging about $8/£5 per month for it. is this unreasonable and what would you expect to pay?
cheers
- mirola0
so is there anyone here who freelances?
- Peter0
I sense that a feature that nags clients for late payments would be appreciated.
- de4k0
and something that gets you clients when work gets dry.
- mirola0
ok, i'm sensing a client-centric approach here. either getting them, nagging them or how about disposing of their bodies?
- Peter0
I already got a guy for that. But I guess eight fifty would be a bit cheaper. Sign me up man.
- slappy0
can you make it tell clients that their ideas suck and they should stick with the original concept?
sort of automated like.
"as interesting as that sounds, i think that the origianl conecpt has enough pizazz"
- emecks0
I had a similar idea:
http://ondnsond.comA desktop application is where I'm heading with it, entirely hand coded.
My research led me to these conclusions:
If there is enough functionality people will be prepared to pay about $5 monthly.
To make it viable it cannot store information on your server as you will soon run out of space and need to delete stuff. Local Shared Objects are the way to go, possibly with some sort of function to allow transfering data from one computer to another.
Finding a way of licensing it is tricky. You need to be able to disable anyone's application if they haven't paid. The best that I found for this and all other aspects has been Macromedia Central.
Anyway, best of luck to ye!
- mirola0
shared objects shouldn't really be trusted for important information. i think web-based is a good way to go as server space isn't really an issue at all and that should help take care of the licensing. i'd like people to be able to access the thing from wherever they can get to a computer.
- mirola0
slappy, i like it, i like it.
- kevincoffey0
why don't you setup a few template excel spreadsheets for invoicing and time keeping, professionally formatted. sell the pack for a 5-10$ one off payment. Maybe also a document about managing client expectations etc.. like a startup manual.
- emecks0
It's all about volume mirola.
LSOs if used properly form no problem whatsoever, whether the information they store is "important" or not.
But certainly as far as licensing is concerned Central is the way forward. Knobache awaits those who try licensing without Central's APIs.
- slappy0
You could have dummy contracts, project specifications and blank change request forms etc. ie a form that says what the client is asking for is out side the original brief and would require x amount of funds etc.
- UndoUndo0
macromedia central has been designed for apps like these as mx said but i think you need an add-on for the browser or something???
- emecks0
No Undo,
Central is for "sometimes online" applications.
What happens is you download Central, then you can install Central Applications in it, when you are online they get update their information and store it locally so that you can access it even when offline.
It is perfect for PDAs for example. You can download all films showing in all cinemas close to you and still have all the info when you're offline.
In essence it takes Web Services and makes them available for offline browsing.
- tikal2k0
an automated form-based mailer that dynamically assesses project status, using a weighted logarithm to compare proposed budget and timeline with actual achieved progress at regular intervals and then transmits an open hand to the client's computer to bitchslap them for being retarded.
- UndoUndo0
thanks emecks
- jarredbishop0
sounds good. i think $8 a month is reasonable.
- SirG0
I use Studiometry for all those tasks: http://www.oranged.net/studiomet…
- mirola0
SirG, that looks really good. i think i'll just jack this idea in and use that myself.
cheers all.
- mirola0
i'm guessing studiomatry is better as a mac app, on pc iit keeps telling me it's experiencing a problem and needs to close.