Establishing Yourself As A Local Web Designer Getting Off on the Right Foot

[pbolduc 0]

I have seen several inquiries concerning becoming an established web designer in the forums. As a result, I will attempt to concisely explain how I did it. First Steps First:If you have been using frontpage, unless you know it through and through, get rid of it. Take the time to learn how to write the code yourself. There are alot of script editors out there that write a clean code. I have found that there are alot of want-to-be designers that use front page, designing sites on the side using frontpage because it came with their office suite. Whenever business gets slow I target businesses that have had a frontpage site designed by some wnat-to-be and recommend a site upgrade. That works pretty good.Personally, I use AceHTMLPro. It is inexspensive and has html, javascript, php, and asp capabilities with excellent help documentation. It also has a code optimiser and a syntex checker. I've been using it for years and still have yet to come to a complete understanding of its full capabilities.Do Your Reasearch:Take the time to search for other web designers on the internet. Review several sites. Type in web design and your local town. The results will most likely bring up any competitors in your area. If they have prices posted this will give you an idea of the going rates in your area.It will also help you to get a better feel for all of the different aspects of web design and the different addons (different dynamic scripts to enhance the site) you can charge for instead of offering them as an included package. Addons are great and generated a fair amount of additional income.Also: Spend a fair amount of time searching for pre-written scripts that you can easily implement in your customer's sites. Don't try to re-invent the wheel. There are hundreds of thousands of free scripts available on the net that you can use in your design.You do not need to understand the language to be able to use these scripts, just how to get them to work (i.e. setting permissions, the path to perl, and such). I have found it is more important to figure out how to customize the script to match the look and feel of the site rather than learning the inner workings of the language the script is written in. As time goes by you will learn more about the different languages simply by learning how to implement them. And there are always forums like this one to help you along.I recommend you go to the addon link in cpanel and look at all of the different open source scripts available there. Get an idea of what is available. If the need arises for one of these scripts install it in your site to get a feel for it, then go to the download site and download it so you can install it on the customer's site. Build Your Site:Using the exaples from your search, design a site offering and explaining your services. Use several different dynamic scripts to show off your capabilities in the beginning. Once you have a few commercial sites built, you can show off your portfolio. In the beginning, I gave away some addons to customer's I liked so that I would be able to show it in action to future clients with a pre-determined rate established based on the time required to install the script.Establishing Your Rates:I try to base my rates on $65.00 an hour. This includes time spent on all aspects of producing the site. (graphic design, scripting, submitting, meta tag optimization and so forth) In the beginning while you are still in the learning curve (you never get out of the learning curve by the way) you will not average your desired rate as you cannot charge the customer for the time it takes you to learn a new script and such.You also cannot go to the customer and sell them a site base on an hourly rate. They want to know what the bottm line is: How much will you charge me to built this site? What you have to do is project in your mind not how long will it take you to build this particular site once I am fully capable of scripting it, not how long is it going to take me as I learn on the fly.Establish a rate for a basic site. I have established the following as my basic site for a small locally owned business:Index page: An over view of the company's products and services.About Us Page: An over view who, what, where, when, and why of the company.A Products and Services Page: More in depth descriptionA Recommend Us Page: I use a simple javascript for this.A Contact Page: javascript protected emails, phone numbers, and the physical location.And 1 Additional Page to cover any additional info the customer may want to include. I don't care if they want a picture of their dog on it, it is available to them. I do however try to suggest a good use for this page.Also included is the graphical design of of the header, which is used on all pages. Meta Tag optimization, and the first site submission to the top search engines. I use the one in cpanel for this.For this I charge $500.00 and I can build it in a day if rushed. Rarely, however, do I ever sell a site for $500. I average $900 - $1200 due to the addons sold.One mistake most newbie designers make is they want to show off their capabilities and impress the client so they give away alot of addons. You cannot go to a Lexus dealer and buy one of their cars for the price of a Neon. People that want a Lexus are will to pay for the extras and so are the poeple who want a quality built, cost-effective site.If they guy is not willing to pay you what your worth, he is not really serious about his site. Find someone who is... there are scores of them out there.Get A Deposit:Experience has tought me that you must get a deposit on the site. I charge 50% and will not start the site until it is in my hand with the check cashed. Building a site for someone is like a limited partnership. Your job is to design the site and their job is to gather the necessary information that you need to complete.The problem is that they often times slack off on their end of the deal. You do not know their business like they do. They have to provide you with accurate info about themselves.I use a two step design approach. The first step is to sell the site establishing both a price and content. In this first meeting I establish who my contact is (the guy or gal responsible for getting me the info I need). The basic design is discussed, a start and completion dates are set and so forth. I tell them what I need and by what date I need it. I collect my deposit and have both included and point it out to the customer a clause in the contract that if they are unable to produce the required information by the expected date, I reserve the right to move them down on my list of priorities of site completion. I have had as many as 10 site waiting on customer supplied info. You cannot conduct business with all of these floating loose ends. I collect the deposit to pay for my time to build the structure while I am waitng on their info. If they fail to provide info in a timely manner, they go on the back burner. If they still fail to provide me with the info by 30 days past due, I burn the structure to CD and bring it or mail it to them, informing that due to their lack of performance, I am terminating our contract according to the clause in the contract.Usually they are able to get the info to you that day. (Will miracles never cease).If I don't get the info that day, I simply go about my business. Most of the time they call you back and I usually charge the a sort of re-stocking fee ($100) as I have lost considerable time trying to get their info (phone calls, stopping by the business and the like.Well I hope this will help to get you started, I have to go to work, got alot to do today. Any questions just ask.pete

[cryptonx 0]

THanks for the long advice that should come in handy .

[danagym 0]

thanks for the post pbolduc!but I have a question for u! In my area only few companyis can afford and want a website!The prices for web-designing are very low! So for me the most bigger problem is to find a client that can pay at least 200-300 $ for a quality business website!so this is the problem!In others country they pay good money for a good website, but at us is different, and it is hard for me, a 19 years old teenager, to set up an international business...but I designed several sites, for companyies from my country and my sites, and for the graphic part there where absolute no negative comments from anyone!but I do all the work myself!I design the look of the site, I make all the html part, I put the site in internet, I edsign the advertisment banners for it, I promote the site...and for all this work a company is giving me 150$...will you do all this work for this money?so I need very much to promote and to develop my business in international area!sorry if I became annoying!thanks!good luck!

[pbolduc 0]

thanks for the post pbolduc!

but I have a question for u! In my area only few companyis can afford and want a website!The prices for web-designing are very low! So for me the most bigger problem is to find a client that can pay at least 200-300 $ for a quality business website!so this is the problem!In others country they pay good money for a good website, but at us is different, and it is hard for me, a 19 years old teenager, to set up an international business...but I designed several sites, for companyies from my country and my sites, and for the graphic part there where absolute no negative comments from anyone!but I do all the work myself!I design the look of the site, I make all the html part, I put the site in internet, I edsign the advertisment banners for it, I promote the site...and for all this work a company is giving me 150$...will you do all this work for this money?so I need very much to promote and to develop my business in international area!

 

sorry if I became annoying!

thanks!good luck!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know where your are from, or what the exchange rate is. That does make a difference, but in answer to your question, no I would not do all of that for $150. I charge $75 just to make a header or logo from scratch.

 

There are a few of things you can do. First continue to work with the businesses in your area as you need to earn some income as you build internationally.

 

The other day in one of the forums someone suggested to you to check out that rent a developer link. I would ckeck that out and there are more on the net as well.

 

Also, check out affiliate program like http://www.clickbank.com/?pbolduc https://c''>https://c'>http://www.clickbank.com/?pbolduc https://c. Here you can built theme site for yourself and advertise other people product for a commission. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ https://p''>https://p'>http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ https://p is theme site I am building for myself to market affiliate products related to internet security.

 

Don't worry about your age, It doesn't matter in this business, what matters is talent and you have that and it will only get better.

 

pete

 

PS. your not annoying... I am happy to help in anyway that I can.

[iGuest 3]

I have not read all of the above, so I do apologise if what I say has been mentioned. I will keep it short but sweet, that way you can pick off the ideas.Make yourself sound STRONG, explain your web designing business and what abilities you WILL offer your clients. No doubt it is the highest levels of service, skills diversity and flexibility. If not, you may need to find out how you can achieve this and start doing it.Now some designers do the whole site, all aspects. This maybe alright, but if you can, try to work with others who can help in different areas, but only as required. It's quite important you know about what the client does, without needing to find this information out, if you know about the client and their business, then obviously you'll save yourself time and you both will have better understanding of what needs to be shown. Look at their competitors and see what they've done and improve on that.Sometimes it pays to call in a copy writer to help with wording, if you're not good with words this would indeed help, they can make the words that people see on the screen interesting and can help sell the site and satisfy the client. You don't want potential viewers to leave because it sounds uninteresting.There are more people you may need to call on, animators, programmers, illustrators, internet users (very important), members of the targetted market (those more likely to use the site, infact if you make it easy for these people, you've done it right) and the average computer users (for finding out if the site is navigational and interesting).With your first discussion with the client, you must find out everything they need and you must suggest what they will benefit from.Web presence, business leads, requests for information, advertising and promotional efforts, point of contact, visual displaying, easy navigation and information right at their fingertips, BRAND AWARENESS (very important).Most designers need to realise, you're not doing this because you're the best designer, you're doing this to help a business suceed even further and that's what both outcomes should be.You need to make sure that the site can cater for expansion and is flexible, which means it can allow for more content and the site to grow. Identify these objectives and incorporate them into your site.Speed is essential for a site, some businesses can get away with slow loading sites, because their reputation makes them this way, smaller companies, unfortunately can't do this. You need to make sure the site loading time is acceptable for 56K users as this is most likely type of viewers you would expect a company would encounter.Compatibility is very important, the site must not be acceptable in only a few browsers, it must comply with the majority and not just the major browser.The look and feel must be suited to the company.The information has to be precise, attractive and have an appealing look and feel. It has to be PRECISELY what the viewer wants.A bit of interactivity is required for the site, you will have to decide on where to apply this factor.After all this is considered, the next part is what you have put together and what you feel is in the best interest for your client.Affilliate sites are good too, there was this $1/day site building designers, which a friend of mine was associated with, he was selling himself short, but he did it to get recognition and experience. It paid off in the end, as now he's being paid for his template designs in US Dollars at a very acceptable price.Cheers,MC

[liquidsparxx 0]

Thank you so much for doing this!! But im still having trouble what I wanna do for a job and i've thought of web designing ALOT but im still trying to figure out other stuff. Maybe...making my own company! But i don't know for what...maybe i'll show this to a friend that wants to do web design....do i have any friends that want to do web design...?

[pbolduc 0]

Thank you so much for doing this!! But im still having trouble what I wanna do for a job and i've thought of web designing ALOT but im still trying to figure out other stuff. Maybe...making my own company! But i don't know for what...maybe i'll show this to a friend that wants to do web design....do i have any friends that want to do web design...?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds to me like your not sure what you want to to with your life yet. Don't stress over it. Take your time to figure out what it is you want to really do with your life. You got pleanty of time.

 

Here's an Idea though... Use web designing to get a good look at whats out there. As Mastercomputers mentioned, you have to know the business you are designing for, Designing web sites gives you a chance to see the details behind other areas of work.

 

 

pete

[Dizasta 0]

Good post. also take time to learn CSS and use it for all projects, you can't go wrong with it. You will find out that as the web evolves and more and more people embrace cascading style sheets, customers will start demanding that you use it for them. And there is nothing more impressive about the power that a well designed and standards compliant CSS based design has when it comes time to update/alter the layout of a site.Finally, if you can afford to, buy DreamWeaver. Its templates and library items paradigm is a plus for doing monotonous site-wide changes if you used them throughout the whole site.

[pbolduc 0]

also take time to learn CSS and use it for all projects, you can't go wrong with it. You will find out that as the web evolves and more and more people embrace cascading style sheets, customers will start demanding that you use it for them. And there is nothing more impressive about the power that a well designed and standards compliant CSS based design has when it comes time to update/alter the layout of a site.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm just beginning to implement CSS. I agree 100%. CSS is easy to learn and well worth the time.

 

pete

[Qop 0]

Wow man, u relly know your stuff! I have found out that webdesigning is a very good way for a bigspending 16 year old dude like me to earn some nice cash.

After I read this, i thought: "You know, this might actually help me! "
So I just typed some random words in google (I.E. 'Yachts', 'Shop', etc.) and just by browsing I found 2-3 sites that needed....

a site upgrade

Thanks very much

[lacking_imagination 0]

So, what do you think of dreamweaver? The sites I want to design involve a lot of flash animations/interactivity. It seems good, but I was out of the loop for a while. I remember when html was the only way to make a website. Any advice?

[pbolduc 0]

So, what do you think of dreamweaver? The sites I want to design involve a lot of flash animations/interactivity. It seems good, but I was out of the loop for a while. I remember when html was the only way to make a website. Any advice?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The only thing about flash is search engine spiders don't read and index the content. Because I design for small businesses I try to limit the flash, or at least design the site so that whatever content in the flash is either displayed elses where on the site/page or hidden at the bottom below the page by coloring the text the same as the background.

 

 

pete

[dissipate 0]

thanks for writing this informative article. one of the problems i usually have is charges as i'm not sure how much to charge, like how much and per hour? or per page? how much more for non-static pages? stuff like that.also, do you have any suggestions on how to get jobs? like if you have your own business website up with samples and rates etc and no one is biting, how do you search for jobs to do?

[iGuest 3]

thanks for writing this informative article. one of the problems i usually have is charges as i'm not sure how much to charge, like how much and per hour? or per page? how much more for non-static pages? stuff like that.

 

also, do you have any suggestions on how to get jobs? like if you have your own business website up with samples and rates etc and no one is biting, how do you search for jobs to do?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey dissipate,

 

I can't really tell you what you can charge as I've got a breakdown in pricing in NZ dollars and I really shouldn't display it for competitior reasons, usually I price each company differently and don't really have a set package price, but I do have a minimum.

 

But don't do by the hour, as the job could be a few weeks to even months. It's best to sell the site as a package, and give a reasonable amount of time of when it will be completed, make sure you give yourself enough time, very important.

 

If they accept you, ask for half the money first and the rest when finished. Very important to do it this way.

 

Site Pages and Design/Layout

 

Work out a price for site pages and design, the number of pages you'll create (contacts, home, etc) and layout, this should cost around $200 - $600+, depending on a few things, charge as much as you feel it should be. Remember, you're basically trying to give them the best deal at what you think it should cost, you give them numbers and they'll get back to you, whether they choose you to do it or someone else.

 

Files, Brochures, Booklets, Images, etc

 

If they require PDF or files for download, scanning of pictures (things you must do to get the items on the web if they don't provide it themselves) etc, you should charge for this too, although not that expensive, it still should be considered in your charges, say roughly around $50 - $300 and not more, however for images you can charge $100 - $300+.

 

Testing and Debugging

 

This is something else you may consider charging for, make sure the site is operational and functions how it's suppose to and is error free, very vital that you do this, so why not get paid for this too, although, you may like to suggest that you'll give back a small percentage of this costs if it's not working correctly when you say it's completed. Anywhere from $100 - $300 but not more.

 

Content Management

 

If you create for them a means to manage their own site, then this is where you'll benefit. If it eliminates you from updating their sites then it'll save them money in the long run, if you do create such a thing for them then charge roughly 3 times the price of the above costs you've set for yourself. This is reasonable enough.

 

That's basically how I split the costs up. Usually you would have templates, scripts etc, already designed so that you could have their site up within weeks. It's how a lot of web designers do it nowadays, it's rare that they create sites from scratch, and if they do, it's even costs more than the above.

 

So hopefully this gives you a generalisation of what to expect, remember if you're trying to get the business, make it reasonable, check out your professional local web designers and see what they charge, and be shocked at how much they do it, but remember, they've got everything ready so it's only a short time when they can get a site up.

 

Make sure to get yourself a place where you can get web hosting and domain names at a reasonable charge and include that pricing. Make sure it has everything that the business needs.

 

Cheers,

 

 

MC

[jcguy 0]

Do you need a large sum of money to setup a web designing company? I know of a lot of teenagers who have great technical skills in web designing and development but lack the money to start a web design company.I suppose you need to pay for your domain name and web hosting and maintenance...so that customers around the world can reach you and so that you can put up a portfolio of your work. What other capital costs are involved?Thanks in advance.