May 22nd, 2008

You are currently browsing the articles from Asset Run Blog written on May 22nd, 2008.

How Much Do Workers Make In China?

The Nameless Factory Worker

This is where many young village girls end up if they leave the family farm. China has thousands of factories that manufacture every product known to man (and some that are not known). These factories employ a mostly female workforce because women are easier to control.

The workers are paid an average of 1000RMB per month plus housing and food. Since these factories are huge and the only things near by are more factories, there’s really no where for the girls to spend their money. Most will send the funds back home to help their families.

The jobs are very repetitive and I’m sure extremely boring. However, it pays many times more than working on the farm back home. Add in the fact that the living costs are zero since the company provides food and housing and the girls find themselves in a situation many American workers can’t seem to reach - positive cash flow.

The Nameless City Worker

Jobs in the city pay more than jobs at the factories. However, the cost of living in the city is much higher as well. It’s not uncommon to find 4 or 5 people sharing a small apartment. Most unskilled jobs in Shanghai pay 1000 to 2000 RMB per month. Because of the low wages for unskilled workers, business create a lot of redundancy by employing a bunch of them. The restaurant industry is a prime example. They’ll have multiple greeters at the door and who knows how many more waiters inside. On our train ride to Suzhou, there was a greeter at every single train car.

While the unskilled city worker may have access to far more entertainment choices than one of the 250,000 workers at the iPod factory, they generally don’t make enough to really entertain themselves.

The English Speaking Worker

In a city like Shanghai, being able to speak English opens up a world of new possibilities for the Chinese worker. Speaking English also means more money - 3000 to 5000 RMB per month. For example, in order to work at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, all employees (except cleaning staff) must be able to speak English or another language. The Grand Hyatt pays a lot more than a local hotel. Then again, they charge a ton more too!

A worker can make more money if he has a collage education. However, even if the worker is unskilled, as long as he can speak English, he’s worth more than three times an unskilled worker.

The Western Educated Worker

At the high end of the working class is the western educated worker. An English speaking employee with a western education is highly prized in China. Wages start at 17,500 RMB per month and many times, the company will pay for all or part of the housing cost. In a country where the average factory wage is 1,000RMB per month, starting at 17,500 puts these workers in a very elite class.

It used to be that most western educated Chinese student would stay in the West after graduation because the opportunities are greater. However, this is no longer the case and most students now choose to return home after getting their degree. Look at it this way. A new grad will make the same wage working in the US or China. However, the wage of the new grad in the US isn’t 17.5 times greater than the average US factory worker. Chances are, the US factory worker makes more than the grad.

The great need for educated employees has allowed many US and Canadian citizens to seek work in China. You can expect your wages to be about the same as what you would make working at home. However, because the cost of living is so much lower, you can live pretty high on the hog. That is, as long as you stay away from Pudong.

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Written by John Chow on May 22nd, 2008 with no comments.
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W3-Markup Slices PSD to HTML and CSS

So, you’ve got a kick-ass idea for how your new website should look and you have it all designed in PhotoShop. Unfortunately, you don’t know the first thing about HTML and CSS, so you really have no clue how to convert your design into any sort of usable web code. This is precisely where a service like that offered by W3-Markup comes into the picture. As you’ll soon find out in this review, they may know their stuff, but W3-Markup also has its limitations.

Why Hire W3 to Code Your Site?

Even if you are reasonably familiar with CSS/HTML production and how to convert a PSD file into something that can work for the web, it can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience. At least, that’s what W3-Markup says on their page that answers the question of why you should choose them. They promise that they will deliver what you need with hand-coded production using any style that you want. They guarantee on-time delivery and they are able to offer a fast turn-around.

In addition to coding your website, W3-Markup is also able to offer “numerous core competencies to more quickly grow your site to profitability.” These include social media marketing, conversion rate optimization, copywriting, user experience web design, and Linux web hosting. They say that they are able to help you save time and earn more. “It’s money in your pocket.”

Where Have I Seen Their Work Before?

When looking at web designers and coders, it’s always important to check out some of their previous work. This gives you a good indication of what they are capable of doing and gives you better peace of mind that they will be able to handle your project. Looking at the examples page, we discover that W3-Markup has worked with a wide variety of companies and individuals, including our good friend Neil Patel.

I’m assuming that all the customers featured in the examples section volunteered to be featured as such, because when you click on one of the examples, like Neil Patel’s QuickSprout, you are greeted with the design of the site, as well as the raw HTML/CSS code for the design. Doesn’t this just make copying the design so much easier?

It should be noted that while W3-Markup is perfectly happy to convert your Adobe Illustrator, Fireworks, or Photoshop artwork into CSS/HTML code (and optionally coding it for various content management systems), they don’t design websites. They say that they want to focus on code production only.

What about Customer Support?

There are no fewer than three ways to get in touch with the W3-Markup team. They have a company blog that doesn’t appear to be updated very often. Presumably, this is where they are going to post any sort of company news and announcements that may be of interest to current and potential customers.

The second option is the live chat. This, of course, only works when there is actually someone on the other end. The third and final option is through the contact form, where you will also be able to find their 888 phone number. Having a toll-free number really adds to the professionalism. Strangely, there do not appear to be any names on the W3-Markup site at all. It’s such a faceless entity.

How Much Does It Cost?

Slicing PSD into HTML doesn’t come cheap. Considering that you’ll still need to do all the designing yourself, W3-Markup is not exactly one of the cheapest options out there. Going to the submit order page, you can customize your order and get a precise price quote. A single page with a 7-day turnaround costs $139. Bump that to a one-day turnaround and it’ll cost you $369. Additional pages come in at the same price, but they may be a multiple page discount applied as well.

That price provides you with the basic HTML and CSS files. Beyond this, you can add options like liquid layout width ($14), Safari compatiblity ($9), drop-down menu navigation ($9), and favicon creation ($19). As you can tell, these layout, coding, and advanced options really start to add up. Getting the code in a form other than XHMTL/CSS also costs extra. For example, translating the code into a WordPress theme comes in at a $279 premium. You can see how a single design with a few options and WordPress integration can easily run you as much as $1000. You get a 5% discount for full payment up front. Otherwise, you need to provide a 50% deposit.

While I appreciate the professionalism presented by W3-Markup, I find it unfortunate that they don’t have any in-house design services and the various “options” almost sound like they’re trying to nickel and dime you. That said, you probably get what you pay for. W3-Markup seems like they have some pretty happy customers, including Microsoft!

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Written by Michael Kwan on May 22nd, 2008 with no comments.
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Dinner with a Suzhou Reader

I invited Michael Jiang of Blog In The Wall to join us for dinner. Michael is one of my readers from Suzhou. I don’t know how many readers I have in Suzhou but Michael was the only one who emailed me asking for a meet up. We went to a restaurant near my hotel and had a traditional Chinese dinner.

Meeting readers is something I never get tired of. One of the reasons I started this blog was to meet new people. The blog has allowed me to create many new friendships, many of them will last a lifetime. While you maybe able to put a price on the money this blog makes, you can’t put a price on the friendships it has created. Friendship is priceless.

I would have liked to take Michael out to a bar or club after dinner. However, China is in three days of mourning for the victims of the earthquake. All bars and clubs are closed. It was great to meet up with Michael. I hope to meet more readers as I continue on to Taiwan.

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