What about websites that are run on top of a 3rd party services? For example, I noticed a lot of doctors use their doctor-specific website generators that use something like weebly (it's crazy - there are ones specifically for optometrists, dentists, chiros, etc). I'm not sure how much of a change I'll be able to make.

And how much is a "few bucks"? I've done some freelancing work, and I made the mistake of setting the price too low when I first started. I'm pretty oblivious to the business side of things, but I get the feeling that they use price as one of the determining factors for quality. I admit I fall into that trap whenever I purchase something without research.

If you notice that they are running some sort of crappy "Dentist CMS" just avoid them. They've signed up for some "all-in-one" plan with some tech service provider who probably does everything from their website to their practice management software... they can't let you work on one part of that ecosystem without canning their current provider... and no way you want to do all the stuff they do (even though the all-in-one guys tend to do a really shitty job with everything... the thing that matters is the practice management software and everything else they do just pads their profit margins).

In terms of what to charge... totally depends on the situation (what services you're offering, who you're offering it to, and the market you're in). I don't generally think people are afraid of paying too little... certainly like $25 / hour -- most SMBs would love paying something like that for the work, and it's about what you'd make hauling sofas and moving boxes around... just a lot easier on your back. You can come off as very high quality, and still have a low price... my guess is you aren't instilling confidence in your presentation. Easy to fix... take a public speaking class, dress a little nicer (suits never hurt), and carry a notebook (http://www.staples.com/Staples-Composition-Notebook-College-...) -- this gives people confidence to see you're an active listener and making a to-do list of action items (http://lifehacker.com/5575748/best-to-do-list-manager-paper).

Spend an hour on Yelp generating a prospect list... find all the local businesses that use WordPress, practice your elevator pitch, then clean yourself up and go walk around asking to speak with the manager.

Yeah, those websites all scored 0's on mozilla's scale. Hence, I thought they were opportunities. But thanks for the heads up.

As for the price, I did freelancing online. When I first started, I offered really cheap services, and only a single person contacted me. But when I increased the price, I started getting more responses. Still, that notebook prop is genius. Guess I'll have to work on my "jargon mask" too ha

If you're just doing Upwork type shit, waiting for customers to come to you... it's just a commodity. So yes... when people search they say, "Well, I don't want the cheapest... those tend to be bad..." But look, Upwork is literally AIDS and will give you cancer of the herpes sores. Go to local businesses in-person, educate them... this creates demand for your services. Talk to the manager, build the relationship... this creates trust in you as a service-provider. Online freelancing is a race to the bottom. In-person prospecting will net you better clients, better projects, and better pay.

BUT... start small, make sure you can do the work at a professional level before you charge for it. It's OK to do a few for free... way less stress than taking their money. Do a few trial runs... get comfortable with the work. Your confidence will grow and then you'll start commanding industry-standard pay. The money does not matter at all right now, you need practice and references.

I've always read it's better to charge by the hour, but that you also want to have a contract with an outline/description of the project and expectations. I'm having a hard time getting past this because how in detail are you supposed to go with that so they know what you're responsible for and what will cost extra?

You can add in some assumptions in the SoW / MSA / contract. Like, "Will only be responsible for work in XYZ Repo, not other Repos or 3rd Party Services." It's really whatever you want to put in there, I start with a pretty long standard list (based on the project type). "Won't customize administration tools or workflows of WordPress / Magento / ABC Platform," to, "Will utilize Foundation / AWS / blah blah blah."

You can always do work that is in a gray area, or clearly out of scope of the contract, if you want to be nice to the client. The contracts are for clients that you don't want to be nice to. They are levers you can pull to get the client back into a manageable space. If you don't give yourself a lot of levers, you're left with just "walk away" when the shit hits the fan... and typically that option doesn't include getting paid.

Even for "simple" projects now my Statements of Work are 25+ pages. Templatized as best I can, and all reviewed by a lawyer I trust. I don't sign contracts that clients send me, without stipulating that if that contract and the one I sent over are ever at odds, then the contract I sent over wins. You have to protect yourself, especially as a one-man-shop. You can't afford to get bogged down in shitty squabbles, so like with most things... "a stitch in time saves nine" here. Longer, more explicit and detailed contracts save you time.