How much should I charge to create a HTML email signature for a client?
As web designers ourselves, we know what it's like when a client asks you to create a HTML email signature for them, and we certainly in the past, underestimated the time, energy and knowledge that we needed to create one. In fact, that's exactly how Email Signature Rescue came to be.
Back when we were just a little old web design studio, we created and used our own HTML email signature on all our outgoing emails and clients often asked us if we could create a signature, just like ours, for them.
But how much do you charge for this service? You might not have created an email signature before and there's a lot of important things to consider when designing an email signature, that you may not have thought of.
Design
So first of all there's the design part. You come up with an amazing design and show it to your Client. They make a few changes and you re-design the signature to suit their requirements.
You should definitely charge for initial design and include up to three iterations in this charge. You should make it clear that any extra iterations after three will cost more.
Depending on the Client, the needs for the design might be simple or complex. They might only want a small, minimal email signature or they might want one with all the bells and whistles like banner images, custom social icons and head shots of all their employees. It's important to ask questions about the design before quoting any prices.
Coding
If you didn't design your email signature using HTML, once your client has approved the design and accepted the charges, you will need to start coding it into HTML.
Coding the signature can take anywhere from a few hours if you know what you're doing, to a few days if you're a little less experienced. You should charge for your time accordingly.
Testing
Once your email signature is coded into HTML you'll need to test it across all major email clients. You should ask your client which email client they intend on installing their email signature into so you can test sending from the email client(s) they use.
It's important to note that all email clients send and receive HTML differently. What works on one email client might look completely messed up on another. Our email signature templates have all been thoroughly tested and professionally coded to ensure that they look great no matter which email client the signature is sent from or received to. Consider checking out our Reseller Plans if you think you might need some help.
Data Entry
If you've made it this far, through the maze of designing, coding and testing a HTML email signature - congratulations! Now it's time for the really boring part. A part that is often neglected or not thought about when quoting clients for HTML email signature design is data entry.
Data entry is required when creating and duplicating the email signature for all the users. This will involve you opening and closing multiple HTML files, copying files, changing names, emails, telephone numbers, double-checking changes.
And when you think you're just about finished Brenda will call from HR. She would like to make a small change to the signature design that was approved at the beginning of the week. Eeeek!
If only you were using Email Signature Rescue, you could do all this with our online software and it would only take a few minutes :)
Installation
After fighting the urge to call Brenda back and tell her that you can't make any more changes, you make the changes to ALL 80 of the signature files you have created.
Now it's time to zip the files and email them to your Client.
You send the email with the zipped HTML files, dust your hands off and relax back in your chair.
Ding! What's that? A reply email thanking me for all my hard work? You shouldn't have....
Dear Shane,
Thanks. What do I do with these?
Regards,
Brenda
Did you forget to charge for help with installing the signatures? Don't worry. You only have to help 80 employees work out how to copy and paste a HTML email signature into Outlook, Gmail or Apple Mail.
Oh and Brenda wants just one more small change.
Stop the madness
I think by now you get where we are going with this. Don't be a chump. Forget doing this by yourself. We are here to help.
Let us deal with the Brendas of the world, and you can get back to doing what you love.
We offer a Reseller Plan if you want to be hands-on and design the signatures yourself for clients using our software, predesigned, tested and coded HTML signature templates and installation tools or an Affiliate Plan if hand-off is more your style, you just want to refer clients to us and get a check in the mail!
Designer & Agency Plans