It is not easy to create a website for students. The following is just a small part of a conversation between a webmaster and a writer who considers developing a custom essay writing website.

Project Management Conversations about Pricing, Deadlines, Chargebacks, Writers, and Clients

First names seem like the best option.

Writers can choose from a list of available names. If a client ever gets confused when the same name is used by different writers, it will be easy to un-confuse them and it will even be an opportunity to strengthen rapport and trust as we laugh about the coincidence.

Numbers (writer57) would not be as interesting, so the customers and writers would both be less interested/motivated. The customers like to have personal relationships with us, so I think names are important.

Below, I'll paste an idea (even though I think it might overcomplicating things):

Is it possible to let each new writer create a "pen name" by selecting a first name from a list of available names and a last name from a list of nouns that make good names?

This is an opportunity to add a dose of fun. It's fun for the writer to choose a "pen name" and it's fun for the client to exchange emails with a writer whose pen-name is interesting. Someone told me a good pen-name has a noun, like "Day" or "House" (Stephen King, Danielle Steel, Anne Rice). We could use a fun pen-name generator for writers. The first name can be any common first name they choose, and the last name can be an interesting noun.

- Writers can choose a first name from a list of common first names, from A to Z. (Example: "Aaron")
- Writers can choose a surname from a list of nouns that make good names. (Example: "Cruise", or "Silver")

By selecting first name and last name the writer gets to express her personality while generating a unique username in a way that is not as risky as letting them make a nickname.

But really, I think it might be overly complicated to do that. It might be best to just use "first names" and I don't think it's necessary to have a name frozen when a writer is removed... the name can become available again if a writer is removed, and it will be easy to deal with customers' confusion. I don't mind if they can't get their preferred writer, anyway, because I want customers to build a relationship with the company, not just the individual writer.

Okay, maybe the writers will all have quirky pen-names. This is good; all these people think of themselves writers, maybe when they were in school their teachers told them they would be great writers one day. They need pen names. : )

For a lot of these people, it's a great step toward fulfillment of their goals because they are now writing professionally. Sure, it's academic writing, but it still is a big step in the right direction for someone who always wanted to be a professional writer. It was for me, and I see it happen for a lot of the good participating writers.

If the decision is made to create a "pen-name generator" maybe you'd like me to come up with a list of first names and surnames. I'd like to provide such a list if it would be helpful.

One way to make it interesting without making it confusing/take time would be if we assign a unique last name without letting them choose one.

Example: They would just see that their username is Mike_Run (instead of Mike_453).

It could be just as simple as using first name +appended id.

Letters could function the same as numbers for making them unique. The names could come from the same set of last names being used for the writers.

So we can use letters instead of numbers it will be more interesting for them. Students will tell friends about CP and talk about what funny user names they got.

And it would not have to confuse them or take time. So now that I thought about it, this is my opinion.. assigning a last name automatically would be more interesting and easier for them (and me) to remember.

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I consider deadline not important because I want to give the highest possible price the customer will accept. When a customer's instructions include a comment like, "Sorry about the urgency but I really need this fast," I do charge more.

When a deadline is 2 days away instead of 4 days away, I don't think that is a good reason to raise the price.

It may be problematic to create a fixed price scheme that encourages customers to set deadlines as late as possible to get a lower price.

I encourage customers to set deadlines early, because this prevents problems, chargebacks and slander. Early deadlines are always best, because when there is no extra time we might make a mistake and have a disaster, but when there is plenty of extra time we may sell an additional work session to improve the paper and profit is increased.

A fixed price scheme based on deadline gives customers the idea of understanding that it can save them money by setting a deadline further away.

When the instructions say, "Please give me a price for a deadline tomorrow and another price for a deadline in two days," it tells me they are comparing us to a website with a fixed pricing scheme. I tell the customer we are not that kind of service, and we will not charge more just because they need us to complete the paper sooner.

I act like I am the customer's agent/advocate

Very often, the customers ask if the price can be lower and I sometimes tell them I can get a lower price if they can extend the deadline by 18-24 hours. This helps me create an understanding that I'm trying to get the best possible price for them.

I have been acting like an "agent" for the customer and implying that I am here to advocate for them and that this advocacy is what makes our research service better than other companies. It's very easy to negotiate with them because they know I am negotiating with real writers on their behalf.

So I am very firm about sticking to this idea that I tell customers: The writers set their own rates and price each project individually, and the deadline only causes the price to increase in cases where I only have a few available/qualified writers.

Whenever customers talk about different prices for different deadlines it's because they want to get a discount for giving a lot of time.

If writers see a fixed pricing scheme that fluctuates based on deadline, they will charge us more for closer deadlines, too.

If we want to take advantage of Deadline as a factor determining price, we must charge more for projects due sooner. But this is not a good thing to do, because we the competition (foreign at least) charges less.

Customers choose our writing service because we are different from those cheap fixed-price sites.

I don't want clients to compare us to those cheap sites. We are more expensive and more reliable. We don't overcharge them just because they need a 36 hour turnaround time, and we don't offer unrealistic prices, like $20-$25 per page. We keep it real. Each project is priced individually and quoted only after we actually look at it, and we sincerely try to offer the best possible value. That means we don't automatically charge more just because they need a 24 hour deadline.

I charge more for a rush order if the instructions say something like, "I know this is the last minute, but is it possible to get this done in 24 hours?" I know they expect to pay more.

But if a new client orders in the morning for a deadline on the same day, I don't raise the price. I try to let new customers get interested in us by completing one order at a lower price, and then I charge "typical" prices after that.

I must consider deadline not important because I always want to give the highest possible price the customer will accept. If the deadline is a factor, it will only mean giving a lower price when they order in advance, and giving a lower price doesn't really help neither the client or us.

Using fixed pricing based on deadline won't mean more profit for closer deadlines, because already I charge as much as I think I can with any customer, regardless of deadline.

I feel it's very important for me to persuade you to let me keep pricing projects individually, and I'll keep using my method of letting them know I am an agent/advocate for the customer, negotiating with various "groups" of writers on the customer's behalf. Even though there is a benefit to letting them pay right away, there is also a benefit to not making them pay right away. And there is a benefit to having the credibility that comes from "keeping it real" by refusing to give a price until we actually look at the project.

One last thought about deadline: If we have a fixed price scheme that charges more for a closer deadline, we are obligated to send in time for that deadline because the customer paid a premium for fast service. The writers will not always send in time, and when that happens the customers will want a refund. If you let me keep quoting prices the way I do now, I can present it all as though we are trying very hard and want to do well for our customer, but if we miss a deadline I don't let the customer use that as an excuse to ask for a big revision or a refund.