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Becoming A Web Designer


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#1 Donna

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 08:56 PM

This article was originally posted at 13dots written by one of our Staff Members Mat Dwyer (mdo), we are noticing it's being posted all over the web and Mat has not submitted it anywhere nor has been contacted to ask if you can post this on your site. If you have this article posted please show the courtesy of emailing him to let him know. He doesn't mind but a quick courtesy email is only good manners.







So you decided to take your little hobby of web design and try to make a go of it as a business. Great move, the web always needs more talented and unique designers, and thats exactly what you need to be, talented & unique! But thats not all folks! You also need business smarts! Without your sense of business you'll be saying good-bye to any chance of getting clients, referral's, or cashing that cheque at the end of the project.

Starting:

Before you start anything, you have to have a list of costs, a budget per say. You can no longer run those educational version programs, or go and "borrow" images off the web. You're in it for real now, and your clients expect that. You'll need to purchase ( or use a free alternative ) for the programs you need. Most designers have the following:
1) Graphics editing suite ( usually animation included):
Most of you know of this aspect, with Adobe Photoshop being the most popular by designers in this category. Cheaper alternatives such as Jasc Paint Shop Pro or Gimp can offer those designers on a more strict budget the same opportunity to burst onto the web design scene.
2) HTML authoring program:
This is purely based on your skills and your work ethic, as most designers have a good knowledge of html code, so they can write it themselves. BUT theres always that person who would rather a program do all that tedious stuff for them, and thats why Macromedia Dreamweaver is head in its class for HTML authoring.
3) Flash authoring program:
This is another optional program that some designers use to enhance their websites to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Whether you use Macromedia FLASH or SWiSHMAX, you can defiantly be unique using FLASH technology.

There is a couple more things every designer should have before they go off on in search of the webmasters dream, they are here in list form:

1)
Web hosting – Make sure you have a good webhost, one thats reliable and that you can trust to refer you clients to. Remember, most clients have no idea about anything on the web, they will be looking to you for recommendations on webhosting! If the host you recommend bums out in 3 months and takes all their money, then it's your neck on the line! Try to stick to reputable hosts, or those with some sort of assurance of quality ( an online friend, community hosting, for examples )
2) A domain name – Nothing, and I repeat NOTHING will turn off a prospective client more than learning your websites domain is www.proffesionalwebdesign.freedomains.sdfkjskdf.do. Save yourself the embarrasment and purchase a domain, most are under 10 bucks american! (If you don't have access to a credit card, search the yellowpages for a web hosting/registrar close to your area. You'd be surprised at how many results you will get, and most will take cash for a domain)
3) An FTP program – There are free ftp programs out there, they just take some searching! Believe me, it will be a million times worth it to have an ftp program when your sitting there uploading 5 files at a time through cpanel ;-)
4) A reliable computer – Most people underestimate this one. If you have a client, they don't care about how your hard drive crashed, or you got a virus. If they payed up front, and you pull shinangians like that, then you have something coming for you! Have a reliable PC, AND protect it!
5) Have the time! - Along the lines of the last tip, make sure you can fit it in! If you work a full time job, have a family, play softball, never miss primetime tv and build race cars as a hobby, chances are your not going to have the time to handle that 500 page fully e commerce website.

Believe me, your going to have a tough time if you don't have all of these things! Good luck if you try it!

Skills:

Think about what your starting, a "web design firm". It's not a graphics design firm, not a web coding firm, not a signature making firm, ect. If you want to do those specific things, then do those, but don't call yourself a web designer. You have to be well rounded in all your skills. You have to be able to do, or be able to subcontract jobs that the client wants. Make absolutely sure you don't say you'll do a shopping cart site if you don't know how. Don't tell a client that you will do a 3d model of Disneyland if the last thing you did in 3d was watch SpyKids. The following is a list of skills you NEED to have:

1) HTML – Don't even bother if your going to JUST use Dreamweaver to piece together a website. You NEED to be able to edit, write, alter, create and cook HTML before you should think about doing anything. Dreamweaver is for lazy coders! Not for the html noob to make a 5 star website ;-)
2) Graphics – Gone are they days when a 2kb website with some text is considered Cutting Edge, and a horizontal rule was getting iffy bandwidth wise. You need slick, professional graphics, good color choices, and crisp image compression. Make sure your a pro at all aspects of graphic design, and if not, check out the tutorial index at www.pixel2life.com – Everyone has to learn somewhere!
3) Server Side Languages – Eventually you will have to work with some sort of code, whether it be PHP, mySQL, or ASP. Be ready for this, and specialize in one. W3 schools has a great php learning tutorial, for free! When you have to use a php script to randomize a set of images, it's going to be useful to know why it has a ? instead of html!
4) CSS – The new craze, and the most valuable skill of today! Todays designers who master CascadingStyleSheets are HIGHLY in demand, scoring high paying jobs and creating miraculous sites that are graphically pleasing with 98% code! You will have to at least understand CSS, but if you can, master it. It will be the most profitable thing you will do.
5) English and Grammar skills – This is the most underestimated skill! Face it, the reason why Joe with his university degree beat you out of the job, is because he can speak PROPER English! He can even type full sentences and use punctuation. This will apply for clients too!

If a client gets two proposals from two web designers, and one looks like this:

"yo homes i'll photshope dat up fa cheap; yeah here? 2 HUNdred bones dude"

While the other looks like this:

"Good evening George,
In response to your email regarding an accurate quote, we are in need of more information. For ProWebDesign to give you the most accurate quote possibly, certain aspects of the project need to be established. I can tell you that our minimum website design cost is $700 dollars. At a time convient for you, lets get together and draw up a plan for your upcoming website.
Warmest Regards,
Dale, ProWebDesign."

Obviously proper English skills are a web designers best friend! ;-)

Portfolio:

1) Your portfolio is HUGE. Customers are going to be judging your ability to deliver them quality for their cash, all by your portfolio. I cant stress enough that you have to have your best works, and only your best works in your portfolio. If you have unfinished, bad looking works in your portfolio, thats going to portray to your client that you don't finish jobs! If you are just starting and need sites for your portfolio, take THREE websites and do them for free! Do the best job you can, the time will be well worth it in the end (see referral's below!).
2) Make sure your portfolio is displayed out in a way that is easy to navigate! Your making an impression on the client through your portfolio, best to be clean, crisp, and fast loading then rough edges and pixelated text!

Advertising:

1) Advertising is a very very very (VERY) tricky subject! It can boost your business past unimaginable rates, or can take away every penny you've made. Always remember your best advertising is word of mouth.
2) It is essential that you get business cards! This shows professionalism, respectability, and with the right design, can show your uniqueness. I'll go over what my business card has, and the advantages:

Company Name – Biggest and boldest, with company initials in different color to stand out.
Contact – Email and Phone number (with area code – never know where your card will go!)
Position – Shows who they are dealing with!
Title – I think of this as different then Position. I classify myself as a Web Developer, just to be a little unique ;-)
Tag lines – Along the bottom, they are a call to action! "contact us today for your FREE quote" Always emphasize the free! :-p
Specialization – This tells the prospective client what I can do, and also inspires them for what they might want.
Graphics – Your should be a good in graphics, so why have a plain business card? Unless thats your style, and you have a website to match that style, make it look like your not a tax broker!!!!
3) Newspaper Advertising – Advertising in the newspaper is generally a good idea, although it is my experience that this is HIGHLY expensive. A regular size add in the local paper is close to 200 dollars Canadian. ( 160 American? ). This can be a great buy, get you a million clients, or can bomb out in the wake of Macys supersale add on corresponding page. A better bet is put an add in the church bulletin, a local newsletter, a free auto catalog (Think about target audience, business owners, males? 45-55? most are car buffs, cheap and bored, so they get a free auto catalog
4) TV advertising, radio advertising, for the most part is too expensive, and not a good enough bargain for web designers. Try to be creative! Talk to a local radio station, start a contest "free hosted/designed blog" and then when they do the contest, they will say your name, promoting you! I also came across a charity auction for 6 30 second radio spots... starting bid: $75 bucks! With the right equipment (maybe just lying around?) you can have a economy advertisement with big money results!
5) Web advertising is pointless for a web designer. Unless your first name is 2 and your last name is advanced, then no one cares. You have to seriously impress people to make it on the web... and think about it this way... you have to be better than the 100,000 web designers on the Internet, or the 2 in your town? I would take the better odds thank you, so web advertising with me is a no-no!

Exposure

Exposure is not only great for your business, but its fun too! I had a blast promoting MadWebCanada at the WebEvolve Design competition @ Georgian College (www.webevolve.ca) in March 2005. MadWeb got great reviews, came in second place, and I was approached by 2 clients, while no one else in the competition was! I payed $30 dollars admission, ended up walking out with 3 sites for my portfolio, 2 more clients and 24 hours of pure adrenaline (geeky, I know). Make a cardboard box boat out of computer boxes, get a monitors with your logo taped onto it and have a blast promoting yourself! Get into the community, run a marathon with a shirt with your website painted on, or enter your beater car in a demolition derby with your logo drawn on! This type of exposure is the cheapest, most exciting way to pump up your business!

Photography

Nothing has helped me out more than my digital photography. The simplest things have got me NATIONAL publicity! For example, I went to a hockey game the first day I had bought my new super-zoom camera. Armed with a 512mb card and a will to learn, I started shooting. From center ice and 12x zoom I had perfect shots of the goaltenders, face offs, everything! I brought the test pictures home, and went through the images... this was back when MadWebCanada.com was just beginning, and I made a gallery on my site dedicated to the hockey game, and sent the league a link! I was contacted by the webmaster the next day, asking to put the photos in a gallery on their site. I said sure, as long as my watermark stayed on, and it did! Two days later I was contacted by a media company wishing to use my photos for an "advertisement". I was ecstatic, and agreed, as long as the watermarks and photo credits were accounted for. Surely enough, 3 months later I received a package with clippings from national newspapers featuring my photographs! My website got over 5,000 hits over a two week period, pretty good for not paying a dime and having no publicity other than that! More so, I have been published which is great for my portfolio!
Most Papers will publish photographs if you send them in! Local papers love interactions with readers, and my photos are published once or twice every couple of months. It's great and free advertising.
Charities need photos of their events for different reasons, so offer to go be a photographer for a day in exchange for keeping photo credits on, and you will have 4 or 5 hours practicing your camera skills while you get priceless publicity for your web design!

Rates:

1) Rates are almost as tricky as advertising! Make sure that your getting payed for what you do! BUT don't overcharge, or someone is for sure going to undercut you! It's impossible for me to tell you what to charge. Find out what your competitors charge, what the minimum wage is, and what the normal wage for the technological field is.
2) Base your rates on per hour, with a minimum charge. This will help you big time! Charge a minimum amount, and base it on X amount of hours. I.e. $300 minimum, based on 15 hours @ $20.00 per hour. Keep track of everything you do, BUT if your doing something casually, while talking on msn and watching tv, don't charge the client for an hour. Be responsible and respectable. Honesty is key.
3) REQUIRE a 50% deposit up front (of your minimum). I MIGHT settle for a post dated cheque. The more professional you sound, the more professional your deal is going to go down.

Subcontracting

Don't be afraid to subcontract! The whole point is that YOU are in control of the project. Tell the client that you are subcontracting certain aspects, and that it will help build a more efficient and cutting edge website. No one will argue with that, and you can help keep costs down while maximizing work times on other projects.

Drafts

Always, Always, ALWAYS submit the client a draft within the first week of an agreement. If you wait longer than this, most people will become so busy that they will forget, and I promise you that you will never receive any content. A simple template shows the client you are interested, and honestly for most sites you can have a template done in 3-4 hours in jpg format. Always have the client thinking about their website, therefore thinking about you, your work, and hopefully passing those thoughts onto other prospective clients!

Content

I co-oped at a great web design place here in my home town, and if there was one thing that I have learned from them, it's that clients are the most un-cooperative people in the world. Everyone, everyone, everyone will have troubles getting content to you. It will just never come. I'm working with one guy who took 6 months to send me a draft for content. Another person payed me 250 dollars up front for a deposit, dropped of the face of the earth for 3 months then told me yesterday they needed their site done by tomorrow! How do you stop this? HOUND THEM! Email them weekly. Every Sunday night go through your client list and email everyone. Give them weekly updates, to do lists, whats new with your company, updates you think they could use, you know, plug your services a bit. The client will love you for being so consistent, and you will actually GET your stuff! A weekly email will get your site done quicker, with more satisfaction, and less hassles. All that trouble saved for only 20 minutes a week!

Communications
I try as hard as I can to avoid phone calls at all costs. Why? Because I'm a forgetful person! I love personal meetings, and I can talk great on the phone, but in both cases I have to almost make a transcript to remember anything! Remember recording your conversation is illegal without consent! I prefer email to any other communications, because it provides a hard copy of everything that is said. If you talk to clients on MSN messenger, make sure you have your IM history turned on, so you can look back! You'll never realize how important fact A was until you forget it!

In Person Meetings

I have a lot of small time clients who love meetings in the coffee shop. They just want to be involved, and the more you involve them, the better they will feel! The better they feel, the more work you get out of their friends! Remember when your going to a meeting, bring at least 3 business cards, bring a laptop or palm pilot, or at very least several print outs of your template/website. Bring multiple pens, pads of paper, receipts ( they may try to pay you in cash, there (had it happen once!!!)) and spending money, ( always offer coffee, donuts, what every they would like. Remember a happy customer is worth more than a cup of coffee. Also think about the placement of your meeting! A crowded park bench isn't preferable, but a dead end in the middle of no where isn't either. If your working out of your home, a coffee shop is perfect. Don't bring a client into your "office/bedroom" unless they insist, always try to go to a third party location, or go to them!

Know Your Limitations

Don't try to be to good or you will look like a fool. Tell a client straight up that you can't handle the project at the time, or you don't know how to make a e-commerce website. Offer them a highly discounted price for a website in exchange for you learning on their site. Tell them it wont be perfect or quick, but if they want to continue with your services you can offer it at 50% off. Keep the price low, do it for $100, learn how to do it and get another happy customer spreading the word on your business!

Make sure you have the resources!
Clients will expect you to have all the resources a technogeek would ever dream of! Sound compressors, audio recorders, cd rippers, digital cameras, tripods, video recorders, green screens, anything and everything make sure you have it at your disposal. Never let a client down, never tell them something can't be done, just tell them what needs to be done to do it. If you follow that rule, you will never go without happy customers.

Share Your Knowledge!

Share your knowledge! Let everyone else tap into their creative side too! If you are a pro, don't hesitate taking on a high school student 5 hours a week and teaching them the basics. Once they get better, and they will, then you will have a prodigy to help with the work load! Think Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker! You teach them, they save you! Also, they will be a low cost alternative for subcontracting. I don't know any teenager who would rather work a 6 hour shift at McDonald's instead of making that same $45 dollars creating a logo, and getting experience! I know I started off doing email advertisements and landing pages for $35.00 each, while my associate billed clients $125.00 for them. He was making money for nothing, and I was getting the experience and portfolio that I needed. I ended up working for big name clients, including Ricky Williams! (NFL star) All in all my associate shared knowledge, and now I'm sharing knowledge both in this article and by training someone to do updates on my websites, for half of what I charge clients. (Still better than flipping burgers!)

*Funny story, when I quit my job at a fast food restaurant to work full time on my clients, my BOSS asked me to hire him! He offered 50 hours of training, free! I politely declined out of fear of awkwardness, but had he not been a former boss, that would have been a very profitable situation for both of us!

Schools!
Don't hesitate for a second if your asked to do a school website! Think of the publicity! Schools have their websites as the homepage on all computers, so on average 300 kids in an 800 kid school will view your website! Think of the parents who will be going to the school site, think of the businesses they own. Think of the dinner table where the father proclaims that his car dealership needs a website, while the mother suggests her accounting firm would also benefit from a website... then little Johnny pops up and mentions your website, because he sees it every day at school! If I had to do one free website, I would wish upon a star that it would be a school website!

Partnerships

To be 100% honest, if you are in a small business with a partnership your chances of success are limited, especially in Web Design. Your profits are going to be split, program charges doubled, and working in a team is a lot harder than working by yourself. Make sure you have legal documents concerning the partnership.

Refferals

If you want clients, this is how you get them. Here is how it has gone down for me, with http://www.MadWebCanada.com

MadWeb creates free website for A,B and C.
A tells D and E how good of a job I did, how I can give them a great site for cheaper then everyone else.
B tells F that MadWeb took care of them extremely professional
D,E,and F all decide that MadWebCanada would be a perfect choice for their next website project.
C's website gets tons of hits. It's a charity website, for a well known charity and MadWebCanada is plastered all over the site. MadWeb gets huge publicity, and picks up clients G,H,I, and K.
Word of mouth continues to the point that MadWeb is TOO busy!

Don't ever think that your local market is tapped out, because its not. Everyone wants to do SOMETHING on the Internet, sell their antiques, market their invention or advertise their carpentry. Just treat people right. Make them happy at no extra cost. I had a client today tell me the reason why he was so happy with me was because I was "in bed with the client". Always email people back 2-3 months after you have completed the project. I did a simple e-ad for a country singer, who was making a come back onto the CMT charts. I emailed his manager back asking about how they were, ect, and ended up creating an intro for their website! ( www.jlandry.com ) Go the extra effort and you will get extra clients.

Along the lines of referrals, if you are too busy, pass the client along to a web designer friend. One day they will do the same, hopefully when your not as busy!

Upcoming articles: Give the client what they want, the first time!

About the author:
Mat Dwyer is a high school student running a successful web design business in
Central Ontario, Canada. Currently, MadWebCanada.com has 12 working projects, and has forced Mat to quit his job and work full time during the summer. Mat came first in the Simcoe County Communications Technology Fair in the Web Design and Print Publishing Catagories, and Second at the Web Evolve Competition at Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario, Canada. http://www.MadWebCanada.com Version 3 will be launching soon.

#2 matdwyer

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 09:04 PM

Hope you all enjoy the article! Took like 7-8 hours, 4000 words, almost like school! :ph34r:

Another one coming when I get back from vacation in a week!

Thanks,

- Mat

#3 Rubber Duckie

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 09:04 PM

Great one Mat !!

Yeah, I wish people would do this more, I hate sending a e-mail to a company and getting the reply all in lower case and spelling mistakes.

Edited by Rubber Duckie, 20 August 2005 - 09:05 PM.


#4 Donna

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 09:06 PM

:ph34r: Be safe and have an awesome trip Matt

I'm sure everyone will love your article :P

#5 Jaymz

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 09:12 PM

Thank you Matt! :ph34r: I have printed this one off for later reference :P

Is this mdo from 13?

#6 matdwyer

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 09:23 PM

Thank you Matt! :ph34r: I have printed this one off for later reference :P

Is this mdo from 13?

Is it ever! :D Different username, as I am that cool B)

Enjoy<3

- Mat

#7 Ckristian

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 10:12 PM

Great article Mat. ;)

#8 Maxx-Designs

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Posted 20 August 2005 - 11:35 PM

wow, really good tips!

#9 syndrome

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Posted 21 August 2005 - 04:40 AM

wow great article Ctrl+D

found on 13dots aswell ;)

#10 gty

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Posted 21 August 2005 - 11:39 AM

thats a pretty neat article that many people will benefit from

good job

#11 shadowX55

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Posted 21 August 2005 - 09:05 PM

i luv ur article! u are an awsome writer!

#12 raidsilver

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Posted 21 August 2005 - 10:34 PM

Thanks a bunch for the article, Mat. I bookmarked it and read every single word. Great Job!

#13 Simocast

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Posted 22 August 2005 - 01:19 AM

wow impressive article! This will help alot with people who want to uphold this as a career..like me :D

#14 Av-

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Posted 22 August 2005 - 07:02 AM

thanks alot buddy, very usefull for my future :D

#15 PSgirl

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Posted 22 August 2005 - 11:17 AM

great article :D

#16 Mr Jezz

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Posted 23 August 2005 - 03:39 AM

Well done, an interesting read.


I would like to point out that there is an alternative to setting up your own business, that’s to be an 'in house' web developer, such as me!

These days I think its fair to say that many companies subcontract any web development work, however there are those that still choose to have this work done in house, that is by full time employed members of staff. With my present company I started just over a year ago as a software tester, a role I had performed previously. During the course of the last year I have been involved in several 'web based' projects. This has led to my new appointment as a web developer. It is worth mentioning that while this role includes a complete re-design of the companies existing corporate web site, it also includes the creation of all new web based assets, including browser based applications one of which I'm working on now, this is a web-based front-end to one of our existing applications, so I get to design interfaces all day!

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that there are alternatives for those wanting to work in the field of web-development other than creating your own business. You could also argue that performing the role first within an established organisation may provide you with more/improved skills and business sense for when you wish to branch out on your own.

#17 scizor

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Posted 23 August 2005 - 03:56 PM

Excellent Article.
It has pushed me further to become a web designer.

#18 Ki's Empire

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Posted 23 August 2005 - 04:56 PM

Fantastic article, loads of great facts for upcoming web designers.

KIWI :hi:

#19 skandalouz

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Posted 24 August 2005 - 10:28 AM

oh man thanks a lot! awesome article


though there's something I want to point out, so far ive had about 10 customers, and I have never done any advertisement next to online advertisement. Such as putting your work up at Deviantart, or posting your work on community forums. Now we need an article on how to find the best host :)

#20 Dinner

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Posted 24 August 2005 - 12:23 PM

Amazing article! Very nicely done and very helpful! ;) It's a nice long, but good, read! :)




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