Hi everyone!
I have created a couple of blogs for my mother's businesses using WordPress. I made both using templates from the Wordpress Directory but I have modified them both slightly to fit what we were looking to do (and I am comfortable making changes to templates, etc).

First, I am trying to determine if my level of design is something a client will pay for. I am hoping to start learning more about customizing templates as well but for know would use templates with some modifications.

Second, is this OK to modify templates to create a new look for a client or is it necessary to create a template of your own if you are creating a blog for a paying client?

Finally, my mother said she had talked with someone who mentioned how happy she was with the price she received for having a blog done and it was considerably more than I expected based on the amount of time it took for me to do the blogs I did. Are clients paying hourly or by project price for this type of work and what does it include if they pay by the project price?

Thanks!
Vanessa

Many clients don't have a clue as to how to set up a blog. So anything you do for them is well beyond what they expect. I'd charge a project price for setting up the blog based on your experience of how long one takes.

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Sue L Canfield
AwesomeAssistant.info
My Blog

We usually quote a per-project price for blog customization. The amount of work depends on what the client wants and what you're starting with.

We are usually customizing blogs to match and integrate with a client's existing website rather than creating a fresh design or working with premade templates but that's just my own experience.

Since you're just starting out with this I'd recommend charging hourly until you have a better sense of how long this takes you. Once you have more experience with it you'll be able to better set a per-project price.

I charged hourly on things like this for quite a long time before starting to price per-project.

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Thanks Sue and Tess!
I am feeling better about offering this service now! I did customize the one blog: http://www.acquisitions-unlimited.com/blog and I made some minor changes to a template with this one: http://www.chi-analysis.com/blog. And of course, I am working on plug-ins, etc. and showing them how to use the blog and write in them.
Just need to figure out the details so I can start marketing this service.
Thanks again!
Vanessa

P.S. Tess, love your quote! LOL!