off topic, but hey this is "shooting the shit". I plan on starting a web design business in the next couple of months. Does anyone know if the market is saturated. Personally, I still think its a career where you can make a lot of money. Also, I have a few unique, yet potentially successful advertising methods that I plan on using to get a couple of sales every month. What prices should I charge? I want to charge high, however, I don't want to overprice.
Web Design Biz
- Thread starter villain85
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There's only two ways to make it in the web design business:
1) Be AMAZING, and go for the high paying clients. You need to have really top notch work, timeframes aren't usually a huge concern, and as long as you're reliable they'll keep coming.
2) Have low pricing, and attract all the cheap asses that want designs for $20. Clients are fucking retarded half the time, don't listen to you despite the fact that they hired you because you know your craft better than they do, and a lot of times they actually disappear mid project. I'd suggest avoiding this situation, you might end up shooting yourself in the face.
I've been through both situations, and unless you have some high quality work or can deal with the stress of babysitting retarded clients, then I wouldn't get into the web design business. I stopped freelancing because of the clients.
This applies more to business over the internet, and not so much local business.
1) Be AMAZING, and go for the high paying clients. You need to have really top notch work, timeframes aren't usually a huge concern, and as long as you're reliable they'll keep coming.
2) Have low pricing, and attract all the cheap asses that want designs for $20. Clients are fucking retarded half the time, don't listen to you despite the fact that they hired you because you know your craft better than they do, and a lot of times they actually disappear mid project. I'd suggest avoiding this situation, you might end up shooting yourself in the face.
I've been through both situations, and unless you have some high quality work or can deal with the stress of babysitting retarded clients, then I wouldn't get into the web design business. I stopped freelancing because of the clients.
This applies more to business over the internet, and not so much local business.
Try commercials on some local channels. Advertisements during the news in the evening would probably do quite well. Hand out business cards to everyone. Get some flyers circulating. Get your business listed in the yellow pages. Decorate your vehicle with your URL (even though that's ass ugly, it still works).
local tv ads - great idea
I'm not with the whole handing out business cards and flyers routine, they usually only get thrown the in trash shortly afterwards.
I do plan to put my ad in a local magazine.
TylerL, when you did freelance how much on average did you charge high paying clients
I'm not with the whole handing out business cards and flyers routine, they usually only get thrown the in trash shortly afterwards.
I do plan to put my ad in a local magazine.
TylerL, when you did freelance how much on average did you charge high paying clients
Well some people really are that bad at design, but I'm not sure why they start a design business. If they take enough hours to warrant $500 at an average designer's hourly rate, then who cares.
I don't live in Dallas haha.
The best tip I can give you when you're going local is to NETWORK like a fiend. Go to all of your local Chamber of Commerce events, LeTip, BNI, etc. There are tons of networking groups, especially in big cities, out there that let you meet other business owners. Yeah it costs some money, but its by far the most effective marketing tool for this kind of business.
When people by websites from me, they're doing it because they either like me, or I was referred to them by someone they like. Typically your local business owner will be of an older generation... so you're selling yourself, not your service. I've seen some shitty ass designers charge a lot more than me just because they have built trust with a client.
You can charge whatever you feel you're worth. You might want to undercut yourself just to build your client base. But as long as you're networking, you should grow pretty quickly.
The best tip I can give you when you're going local is to NETWORK like a fiend. Go to all of your local Chamber of Commerce events, LeTip, BNI, etc. There are tons of networking groups, especially in big cities, out there that let you meet other business owners. Yeah it costs some money, but its by far the most effective marketing tool for this kind of business.
When people by websites from me, they're doing it because they either like me, or I was referred to them by someone they like. Typically your local business owner will be of an older generation... so you're selling yourself, not your service. I've seen some shitty ass designers charge a lot more than me just because they have built trust with a client.
You can charge whatever you feel you're worth. You might want to undercut yourself just to build your client base. But as long as you're networking, you should grow pretty quickly.
Depends on the client really. Individuals can have a budget anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands, but I've never charged more than $3000 for a full site (without backend, included 10 pages and a vBulletin skin).
You have a lot of room to work with when you're hired by larger companies, for example, I've quoted $20,000 on a 5 page design job for a large gas company, although I never got the job. Someone that quoted $45,000 got the job and his work wasn't all that great. Companies will, a lot of the time,
hire the highest quoter, because quoting high gives a really false sense of value. His designs definitely weren't worth that much, but he got the job because he quoted them well.
Couldn't have said it better.
Network like it's your job. Take the initial loss, and work your ass off. This means future projects, but more importantly, compliments on the site and "networking while you sleep"
Network like it's your job. Take the initial loss, and work your ass off. This means future projects, but more importantly, compliments on the site and "networking while you sleep"
I skimmed the thread so if I repeat something, sorry...
Craigslist is always ripe for web design jobs, many times they are small and people want them for nothing, but its a good way to get some portfolio work built up..
You can always post an ad for your services in the Computer Services section on Craigslist....
Other then that, to be successful try specializing in something, the web design company I work for sucks a dick at web design but are always swamped with work and they can charge like $5000 minimum for a static HTML site because they made a name for themselves in the dental website industry....
Craigslist is always ripe for web design jobs, many times they are small and people want them for nothing, but its a good way to get some portfolio work built up..
You can always post an ad for your services in the Computer Services section on Craigslist....
Other then that, to be successful try specializing in something, the web design company I work for sucks a dick at web design but are always swamped with work and they can charge like $5000 minimum for a static HTML site because they made a name for themselves in the dental website industry....
I plan on putting an ad in a local mag that really focuses on home services such as lawn care & remodeling. It has other ads in it too such as chiropractic, karate lessons, laser hair removal, etc. I'm wondering if this might backfire as to where potential customers will associate me with those type of services?
I'm thinking it will be somewhat successful due to the fact that the households that the mag is mailed to are the homes of some very affluent people who own their own businesses or are working professionals. I might also catch the eye of some top executives of large companies.
I'm thinking it will be somewhat successful due to the fact that the households that the mag is mailed to are the homes of some very affluent people who own their own businesses or are working professionals. I might also catch the eye of some top executives of large companies.
Different price for different clients. $20k might be a reasonable budget for a large company but a small computer shop on the corner of the street will turn that down pretty quick.
BINGO.
You can also find a local web directory for your area and see if there is an "industry" whose web pages pretty much suck in general. Create a customized web package for that industry... why not customize a wordpress theme for a "spa" or something and try to sell it prepackaged to all the local spas but customized a bit more. While clients are a pain in the ass, just get the site off the ground and show them how they can update the site with posts and news and crap.
E-mail the heck out of all the local businesses with crappy websites.
I think specializing is the golden ticket per-se when it comes to web design. The general web design market is saturated, especially the online market, so your real outlets are advertising locally and/or specializing in something...
Ive even started to take up a specialty and recently have been able to charge 200% - 250% more then I charged in the past....
Ive even started to take up a specialty and recently have been able to charge 200% - 250% more then I charged in the past....
I can definitely agree there. I plan on starting a competitor to GetLandingPages soon, although apparently the market is pretty saturated I know I can get some work. It's really similar to bidding on long tail keywords; less clicks, but more targeted and easier to convert.
Do you guys use templates and put them on Dreamweaver? or do you make the sites from scratch.
Also, I do plan on specializing and adding some other services such as logo design, copywriting, and programming and then outsourcing them to some partners I have while still maintaining a profit.
When you set up your business, did you incorporate or DBA?
Also, I do plan on specializing and adding some other services such as logo design, copywriting, and programming and then outsourcing them to some partners I have while still maintaining a profit.
When you set up your business, did you incorporate or DBA?
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