Business Links for Web Developers
I’ve been thinking of moonlighting as a web designer/developer to bring in some extra cash and provide a creative outlet. In searching around the web for good info on the current state of the business, I ran across some links that others who’ve made this jump or are considering it might find useful:
- “Getting the Budget Out of a Client,” from Signal vs. Noise. A funny — and probably very effective — tip for dealing with those clients who won’t tell you how much they want to spend on a site. (found via Photo Matt)
- Goto Guides — Discovered through Zeldman’s The Daily Report, these downloadable guides offer tips, tools, and forms for project management, usability testing, budgets, workflow, and more. These guides and other, similar information have since been consolidated into the book Web ReDesign: Workflow that Works, by Kelly Goto and Emily Cotler.
- If you need to explain the concepts behind CMSs and data-driven web sites to a customer, you might try basing your explanation on this one from the MySQL Developer Zone. I found this through the “Services” page of Burgin Design, whose Keith Burgin authors the excellent What a Butthole: the world through the eyes of a thinking conservative. Yes, it actually lives up to the title.
- Have a client that wants an online store but doesn’t have a big budget? Consider Zen Cart — a free, featureful, and secure shopping cart program written in PHP. Also discovered through Burgin Design
- Aparently, “value pricing” has taken over from per-hour pricing as the favored pricing paradigm in this business. I understand the logic behind this, but I’m not sure how it would go over with clients coming from a freelancer.
- More fresh content = more search engine hits. This bit of common-sense SEO brought to you by Search Engine Optimization Forum, which seems to contain less voodoo and bullshit than your usual SEO discussion site or weblog.
- Keith Robinson of Asterisk has some good advice on handling creative conflicts with clients. In other words, what do you do when your client wants to make the site horribly ugly? I found Keith’s article by following a link in a comment posted on ArcLog — a decent resource in its own right.
- Don’t design on spec — Zeldman tells you why.
- “How to Make Friends and Influence Art Directors” — good advice on getting started in the design field, from Mark Davidson. (added 12/21/2004)
That’s it for now. I’m still deciding whether this is something I want to pursue as more than a hobby. I definitely feel that I have more to learn before I can work for hire, so I guess I have some time to make that decision.
I know I have at least one reader who’s a web designer. Chris, care to share any advice of your own?
Hey.
To tell you the truth, there is a *lot* of good information in the links you gave. I recommend subscribing to Signal VS Noise. Brought to you by 37signals, they often have great, practical advice for people in this business.
Personal advice? I’d basically be repeating a lot of others, Keith of Asterisk* in particular (another great repository of advice and information). Always ask for half up front. If you have a client who can’t afford your price (and if your price is perfectly reasonable), it’s probably not worth it to go ahead with that client. There are several reasons for this which have been explained at length… overall, it cheapens web design in general, word-of-mouth referrals from that client might expect the lower price from you, and such clients don’t tend to have as much follow-through as more serious clients who know the value of good web design.
Build up a lot of practice and confidence as well. Do you plan to offer web application development services? Make sure you know you can do it. Are you able to work with the custom systems of other companies? Be sure your portfolio site says clearly what services you offer. Of course, that all implies that you should build a portfolio.
Also, there is setting the price. This can be one of the most difficult parts, as you want to hit a sweet spot that is both affordable for your clients and reasonable for you to work. One way to do this is figure up about how long a project will take in terms of hours, then give them an estimate based on that. This can be refined as the project evolves, but also make sure you have everything that needs to be done pretty well nailed down before you start, lest you go into severe feature creep. Don’t be afraid to tell your client the price, as I said above. And, of course, the link you have on determining a client’s budget has good advice on this.
That’s most of the advice I have for you. Good luck to you!
Comment by Chris Vincent — December 18, 2004 @ 11:45 pm
Great stuff, thanks!
I actually did some freelance work in this area in the late ’90s while I was still in college, but much has changed since then. This weblog has served as a good testing ground for the technical side of some of those changes, though I still have some growing to do before I have the confidence you (quite correctly) describe as being so important.
Comment by Adam M. — December 18, 2004 @ 11:48 pm
Ah yes, I should mention that maintaining a weblog is just awesome as a web designer. Besides the fact that all the cool kids are doing it (Keith, Doug, Zeldman [for God knows how long], Dave, etc…), it’s a very easy way to test out your ideas and get a sort of on-the-job “field training” (as I like to describe it). Since you’re always maintaining it, it sort of keeps you on your toes even when you have a stretch with no work. Also, as this article demonstrates, it can be a good way to field responses from other designers.
Comment by Chris Vincent — December 19, 2004 @ 2:54 am
Business Links for Web Developers (8 Ways to Sunday) Jason Santa Maria | Independent Contractor Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: Donât design on spec Mozilla takes wraps off Firefox 1.5 | CNET News.com Tip: Getting the budget out of a client (Signal vs. Noise)
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