Hey, I have been designing websites for awhile now but just recently became fed up with doing them for free.lol I am having some success in webdesign but I would really like help in how to market and get business. I really think this would be a great opportunity for me to not only make some extra money but to finally do something that makes me happy. I also would like to know what people charge? how do you go about contracts and whats the easiest way to start the design process. My current website is www.lostcubicle.com [Please do not post your urls in the message body. Update the website field in your "Preferences" and it is by default displayed as your signature - Admin] Please leave me a message, I love to read e-mails.
Hello etower46, I recommend "How to Start a Home-Based Web Design Business" by Jim Smith - ISBN 0-7627-2789-6. You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore for less than $20. It addresses all of your concerns and much more.
Originally posted by etower46: I also would like to know what people charge? how do you go about contracts and whats the easiest way to start the design process. I would suggest you to sign up with guru.com or elance.com and get a feel of the bids for various web design projects. The sites mentioned are freelance sites where employers post their projects and professionals submit bids for those projects. I must say that if you opt to go through the conventional route for getting projects (freelance sites, website marketing), it's going to be tough. Just do a search on Google for keyword "webdesign" and see the no. of sites that come up. I don't say you should neglect them altogether. They however shouldn't be your priority. Another very important thing to keep in mind is that if you really want to succeed in this business, you need to target a narrow niche. Maybe more offline than online. Here are some tips to get you started: 1) Contact all those for whom you have created websites and request them to include a link back to your website. Now the important stuff - Use the keywords you are targeting to include in the text that is used to link to your website. Search engines use this keywords in link texts to rank web pages. This may be the local area where you reside. For example the keyword you may use would be - "Webdesign by LostCubicle.com, Georgia" Now if someone puts "webdesign georgia" in search engines, your website (depending on the number of backlinks and the competitors) is likely to be on the top of the results. It's far easier to rank higher for the above keyword than just the keyword "webdesign" itself. 2) You may also want to target certain professionals like lawyers or doctors or anything in particular. Once you have done a job for a client, hand over a few of your business cards and request to pass them to their peers, who might need your service. They would be more than happy to do so if they are impressed by your work. There are many more other creative offline marketing techniques. You jut need to scratch your head a bit. Using the technique described in 1st tip, slowly you'll start getting clients from your website too. 3) Ok, this one just dropped in my head right now. Like I said earlier, you must not altogether neglect freelance sites. The major reason newbie professionals fail to get projects on such sites is they don't have sufficient credentials to back them. In freelance sites, after a work is completed, professionals and employers give each other feedback and it is these "feedbacks and reviews" that are used by future employers to award projects to professionals. When you get offline clients, ask them to do a favor for you. Request them to post their project (by invitation only projects) on the site where you are a member and send you a request through the site to you to bid for the project. Once the project is completed, both can give each other positive feedbacks. Let them how much their feedback means to you and how it can help to build your career. Hope these tips help you.
Hey etower Do you have a email or instant message that I can write to you. I would like to ask some questions about your web design and see if we can work together with my business. We could earn good money together so write back. Thanks Pete
Thanx everyone for your comments, I really needed that info Vishal. You gave some excellent advice that I am definately going to use. I have been targeting most of my audience offline as I feel that is better than trying to get business online. But I have done a few websites for people online who paid me through paypal. Hey pete, do you have an e-mail address? just contact me by going to my website. - thanx.
Yes, very good advice, another addition is to do what my website host does. Include a footer for all your web pages. So when people visit the sites you created they see the footer, "this site was built by netboomerz... copyright...etc" This will also improve your marketing.
Hi etower I also recommend Guru to help you drum up some business. They are easy to work with, and usually have many people looking for help with their websites. You can sign up for the free membership option at Guru. If you don't like the number of offerings, you can upgrade for a brief time, which will cost you some money. But I would try the free basic membership first, and see what happens. If you keep your prices reasonable and have had some experience, you should have individual or more permanent website jobs in very little time. Robin
Hi etower, If you are going to be designing sites, you might well offer your client base domains and web hosting and make more money in your business. They are additional products that complement your web site design services. (There are web hosting reseller companies that give you the option to provide customer support and techinical enquiries so you don't have to worry a lot about that. )
How about providing some free classes in Web design and construction? Everytime I teach a free class at least two or three people offer to hire me. Plus its a good way to spread the word about your Web design business. You could contact your local chamber of commerce and tell them that you're interested in teaching some classes. Your local public library or community college may also be interested in providing free workshops to their patrons on Web design (which you of course could teach).
I agree totally with Computershy - you have to prove you can do what you say you can do. I have a design background and did an 'online' HTML course which gave me a qualification from a University. From that I went on to teach government based SME courses and from that I got work not just from SME's but referrals to large corporates. I now do design work as well as site building BUT I do think that you need some qualifications to get the work or you will always be on the cheap end of the market. With the current reduction in cost of video software you could even offer some free video lessons on your site - and then try to get work similar to that. Use your site as an advertising vehicle. All the best with this and I hope you succeed. Di
hey. I just noticed your site is down. If you need help with it, go to my site and contact me through the live help icon and I will help anyway that I can for no charge. Leon
