With all the discussion of the cost of professional services, I thought
I'd share this.  In my father's business was a framed quotation from John
Ruskin.  Any time a potential customer didn't like my father's rates, my
dad would politely point out this quotation and suggest the names of some
of his competitors, who generally charged lower prices.

   "There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make
   a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who
   consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -- John Ruskin

Many times these same customers would return to my father for his
services, having been disappointed with the lower-priced alternatives
they had pursued.  You get what you pay for.

Bob Fitterman¶
bobf@ilx.com