I would like an e-commerce site just like someothershop.com – how much would that cost me?

It’s a common enough question, and one that always leads your average freelance web designer to take a deep breath and sigh ‘Well, let me see …’. There are many factors that influence the cost of an ecommerce web project, but when you communicate the vagaries to clients, there tend to be three that can have a huge impact – and are often only dealt with summarily: products, postage and payments. Continue Reading

Chances are, not all of the proposals you send out hit their mark. Chances are, a good number of them get rejected at the first hurdle and don’t even get read. Imagine, the nerve of some people. 

And there are really simple reasons as to why. There is nothing worse than being given the opportunity to bid on a potentially ideal project, to craft a detailed, comprehensive proposal – only to find that it hasn’t worked.

What are the most common mistakes consistently made in written proposals? Here are some suggestions on how you can improve yours. Continue Reading

So, you want to be a freelance web designer? Ah, the glamor of it all.

Your own boss, answering only to the call of your creative muse… get up, feel inspired, do some work, go for a walk, laugh knowingly with other freelancers who have also discovered The Secret of: high profile projects, the big bucks, expensive coffee, conferences in glamorous European cities, laughing at the corporate rats you’ve left behind… enjoying the high life that you so richly deserve. Hurrah!

Or… welcome to a world of uncertainty, of irregular income, of blurred lines between work and home. Where, instead of having just one boss telling you what to do, you have 20 bosses across 3 different time zones who want their logo bigger now, dammit!

The truth lies somewhere in between, of course – but you’re more likely to achieve the success you would like (and the balance you strive for) if you can create a plan and structure for your freelance business early on.

In this post you’ll learn the main issues you need to consider to set up your freelance web design business. Up front though, I’m going to make some assumptions about you – I’m going to assume that you’re motivated to do this. It’s not something you want to fall into by accident.

I’m going to assume that you have some basic skills in web design – that you’ve learned your craft and that you’re ready to promote your services to potential paying clients. And I’m going to assume that you have a little business savvy, a good amount of time, and a real commitment to doing this. Okay? Okay! Let’s get started. Continue Reading

I am not a web designer, and nor are you. Or a developer. Or a writer. Or whatever it is you think you are. You’re not – not in any meaningful way.

Full disclosure: I am actually a web designer, probably, but stick with me here.

I thought I was – for a long time. There I went, opening Fireworks, pushing pixels, and then getting my funky code on … breaking out text editors, CSS editors, learning jQuery, HTML5 – boy, you name it, if it moved, I’d web design it. Yup, I was a web designer. That’s what I was.

Except, that is, unless you asked my clients. Talk to them and I was the ‘internet guy’, ‘the marketing guy’, ‘our web support guy’. A whole bunch of things that didn’t once mention design. Vague descriptions of my role that I didn’t really recognise.

The crux of it was that to my clients I was a service provider … someone who provided a thing they needed. They needed a website, I’d help with that. They needed somewhere to host it, sure I’d sort that out. They needed some email marketing done, a little SEO work, or a Facebook page. No problem.

“Sure”, you’re thinking, “clients just want you to do everything for them – that’s okay, but I am a web designer. I am.”

No, you’re not. And the sooner you realise this, the quicker you’ll start offering better services and getting more clients.

Continue Reading