Question: I am a web developer, just starting out as a freelancer.

I have had a few people contact me through my website asking for a quote on how much a project will cost. In order to achieve a cost, I must spend time and effort gathering as much information as possible: drawing out workflows, developing initial sitemaps, etc. I don't know how long a project will take until I have done this, and all of this takes time.

The problem is, I work full time -- so the only time I have is evenings and weekend. By that point, the client has lost interest, and all my efforts go unpaid.

My question is: How am I supposed to put a quote together on such little information without spending so much time researching, gathering data and working everything out?

The client wants a quote within 5 hours, but I need 10 hours to work on it.

Answer: 
I suggest two options:

1) You could create a questionnaire for potential clients that gathers a lot of information that you know you will need on most web sites. Yes, you may need more details, but you could try to gather the first round of information without investing a lot of time in the effort. (Your questionnaire could ask about if the site needs an e-commerce component, if you will need to gather contact information, etc., for example.)

2) I recommend you sell a design product to prospects. Here's how I'd pitch it: A good website requires a lot of thought go into the project. What do you need, who is your audience, etc. I will work with you to develop this information, put together sitemaps, workflows, etc. For this effort, I will charge you $X. Once this is done, I will provide you a bid for development of the website. I hope you use me for the site development too, but you can also take this (the workflows, sitemaps, etc.) and get pitches from other web developers. 

The advantage to this second option is that you can charge something for the work you will be doing to actual develop the site, so it gets you to the quote process sooner. And you get away from tire kickers who are asking for a quote but don't want to invest any time in the effort.
When you can't estimate the time you will be working on a project, try to agree on a price per hour, and give the client a rough estimate of the time you'll need.

When a client wants something in 5 hours, and you need 10 hours, tell him. He can either choose to wait 5 more hours, or to go with someone else. There's nothing to do about this *on short-term*. On long-term, you can develop your skills to save time later on.

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> How am I supposed to put a quote together on such little information without spending so much time researching, gathering data and working everything out?
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If you have too little information, you can do two things or a combination of both:

* Ask for more information
* Give a very rough estimate with upper and lower boundaries

You will have to invest some time in making up the quote. When that takes too much time and you don't get the job, that's your risk being a freelancer.