What is Digg?Sponsored by Best Buy
Maybe The Best Tech Deal EVER--Give Computers To Whole Family view!
bestbuy.com - Geek Squad(r) installation, HP desktop, monitor, laptop & netbook, wireless router--all for $1,199.99!
37 Comments
- nhlarry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32step 1 - figure out your business-- freelancer-- partnership-- small team-- big agency-- company
step 2 - limit your services
step 3 - find a business role model-- their role model is starbucks
step 4 - don't be a flake-- make sure you appear correct to your business clients
step 5 - write a manual for the magic
step 6 - don't trust your brain
step 7 - don't let your clients followup with you-- you should contact them before they need to contact you
step 8 - don't let your colleagues follow up-- see step 7
step 9 - get addicted to strangers-- talk to people you don't know to help you grow
step 10 - always be teaching-- "tutorial marketing" helps to prove you know what you are talking about
step 11 - beware of perfection
step 12 - never trust a big butt and a smile
step 13 - cheap is sexy-- cashflow is critical to your business
step 14 - you didn't get ripped off-- we didn't get ripped off, we let ourselves get ripped off
step 15 - be firm with your clients-- they actually like this
step 16 - if we settle for nothing now...-- we will settle for nothing later - i.e. don't do spec work
step 17 - make it their idea
step 18 - don't bill hourly
step 19 - track your time
step 20 - honor your commitments
step 21 - be serious about scope -- shows the project cartoon
step 22 - study project physics
step 23 - never deliver crap
step 24 - never work anonymously
step 25 - use the right tools
step 26 - be different
step 27 - write your company constitution
step 28 - prioritize passion
step 29 - do a good job
step 30 - always do what's right
Step 31 - plan for the future
step 32 - plan your work and work your plan
step 33 - put employees first
step 34 - invest every dollar
step 35 - treat your clients like you love them
step 36 - use solid contracts
step 37 - embrace uncertainty
step 38 - play
step 39 - take vacations
step 40 - go that way, really fast - raynar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+35Bleh, this list sucks. Here is the REAL Business Side of Web Design:
1 - register a domain. Add something trendy, like an 'r' to the name. Examples: flikr,boobr,poopr, etc etc.
2 - find someone elses idea that could use a tweak
3 - take idea, make it socially networkable
4 - lots and lots of AJAX
5 - shiny logos, rounded corners
6 - sell out to bigger company
7 - move out west, bang models - aaron411, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Most important:
Don't do sites for friends and family. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10#41 - Make sure 40-50% of your time is marketing and searching for quality projects. You will work less and find more successful and fullfilling projects.
#42 - Don't let people waste your time. 98.9% or the inquiries freelance web designers/developers recieve go nowhere and have zero or little money behind them. Have a solid copy and paste email reply system to filter out people who will help you go out of business.
#43 - Don't give quotes or estimates unless the client provides you with adequate specs to do so.
#44 - Don't create specifications for clients who are unwilling to pay for them. Spend that time finding and creating relationships with people who will pay you.
#45 - Avoid replying to job postings promoting "exposure" or "equity" in the company. If a company can offer you equity thats worth anything, they can offer you capital up front.
#46 - Don't be afraid to simply drop and walk away from a project if the client refuses to pay or demands more than you originally outlined.
#48 - Keep all files and do NOT deliver source until final payment is made.
#49 - Ask for client testimonials even if you write them yourself and have the client endorse it.
#50 - Require half down before beginning any work.
more when I have more time... - thegsa, on 10/12/2007, -9/+18You idiot that's not it
1 - register a domain. Add something trendy, like an 'r' to the name. Examples: flikr,boobr,poopr, etc etc.
2 - find someone else's idea that could use a tweak
3 - take idea, make it socially networkable
4 - lots and lots of AJAX
5 - shiny logos, rounded corners
6 - ??????
7 - Profit - MAdaXe42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I'm lost - on step 39, what are 'vacations'? Is that like a business trip, but with less sleep, and more work? Because if it is, I have a lot of them.
- raynar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Its a list. Any type of list = automatic front page.
- civperc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"-- you should contact them before they need to contact you"
very, very good tip - floppyparty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5kinda vague.
I like "Don't trust your brain"
gee, ok. - datcrazydj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In only 40 steps. o_O
- raynar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6@thegsa
You're right, my bad :) - joel.smith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am so there with this one.
Friends and family are moochers. Bastards. - bonexaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Being self employed, I can say that #39 is the most important.
Don't be afraid to tell clients that you'll be out of town for 2 weeks on vacation.. they shouldn't freak out on you (as long as you don't promise something and then not deliver... which falls under #20), and if they do, you didn't want them as a client anyways. - ringo380, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've heard the opposite from other "Freelance web designer tips" websites. In effect, I'd say don't use any these as an exact blueprint on how you run your business. I'd just think of it as things to take into consideration.
- Mr.Chainsaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Good point. I mean I did see alot of things that I found useful. But I thought that one statement was absurd. I guess thats what makes all companies different. :)
- wyrmwood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Perfect list to read after the "8 Things About Geeks" article. Although I like raynar's list a bit better: posture, steal, *****, bright shiny pennies, sellout, sex with models...
- wild, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Thats just good business sense in general. Its a nice list though. Except the Starbucks thing. They have recently fallen out of favor among my clients, as they are seeing as having grown too fast, too quickly. They lost site of what made them great, and now they are starting to hurt for it.
Starbucks has moved from strategic example to cautionary tale. - Mr.Chainsaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm a designer. And I charge hourly. They say thats a no-no. Just curious if anyone could shed some light on why thats bad..
- ryandury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If anyone really wants to learn something, I suggest picking up the Business Side of Creativity. ( http://www.amazon.com/Business-Side-Creativity-Complete-Communications/dp/039373093X )
- theadvinci, on 05/27/2008, -0/+1step 2 - limit your services
he notes every possible service but says you should really focus
Exactly - ei8htball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think about it this way, when you charge by the hour, in general:
1 - Your estimate isn't as accurate as the client would have liked
This isn't a real big one, but if you go over, generally they have all sorts of questions that are a pain to deal with.
2 - You get paid to work slower
I don't know about you, but if I come up with a cool trick to cut the time it takes to do a site by, say, 10%, I don't want 10% less money, I just want that time to spend doing something else.
3 - Your client knows what you make
If you make more an hour than people at the client company make (which is fairly common in my experience), they tend to get jealous... I'm not sure what you charge or what kind of companies you work for, but charging by the project kind of eases this tension (in my experience)
I'm not endorsing _never_ charging by the hour (there are some situations where it makes sense), but a lot of the time, it just doesn't make sense... you should be paid more if you can get it done faster, right? - punterfpc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You can think of it this way...
If the client KNOWS what he/she wants and spells out [almost] everything they are looking to have, calculate how much it will cost you to do that site.
If the client does NOT know or only pretends like he/she knows (and you kindly inform them of other ideas) charge them per hour.
It's the way I do it and it works. - everfresh59, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How about "Get some good designers" and not wannabe designers....
- yomimedia, on 09/17/2008, -0/+1I don't do step 39 (--> Take vacations) enough. I'm so plugged into work it's crazy! Even on vacation I need to completely detach from the laptop. Just too dependent. A workaholic by choice.
- eelancerx, on 09/21/2008, -0/+0Hello Friends!
You can get your own website ready at only $45 now! It is great.
To learn more, visit
http://www.webiserv.com/estarters.html - deansfurniture5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://duggmirror.com/design/Business_Side_of_Web_Design/
- chrisbarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think it depends on the type of site you are doing. I'm actually working on several set-price sites right now, and one that i bill my hours for.
The company I'm doing a site for that I bill hourly is a huge national company with a lot of money to spend, so they could really care less about how much they pay me for a website. So with as much as they are paying me I don't abuse it, but I give them a high quality site thats actually worth the money they spent on it. Since they have the budget, I take the time to add in features and do extra research that I normally wouldn't do.
For the set-price sites, they are usually for local clients such as an artist with an upcoming CD release. They don't have too much money to spend, so I just charge a pretty standard flat rate to design and code a site out. if they want to be able to update it themselves I charge a bit more to add in the content management system I developed. All in all the set-price sites I create are pretty standard, only the design varies. - donotdigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0By the time this guy reaches step 40, I would have already profited on step 3...
- tomarocco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1No, gingerchris, we mean vacations. Holidays are cold, rainy weekends on rocky beaches in Great Britain.
- slickcorp, on 03/30/2008, -0/+0Alternative Business Solutions Located In Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Are a team of professional web designers and graphic designers. They offer great competitive prices and well as great customer support
visit them at www.alternativebusinesssolutions.biz - BushJ, on 10/23/2007, -0/+0i thank you for so informative topic.. i like it.. i'am a beginner in design.. here several of my sites.. tell me please if i do somth wrong.. thank u
http://www.weather.com/search/partner?Keywords=%22 ...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newssearch.php?key ...
http://www.weather.com/search/partner?Keywords=%22 ...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newssearch.php?key ...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newssearch.php?key ... - kronikuk, on 09/14/2008, -0/+0For Free Tips and Articles on Web design, Search engine marketing and E-Commerce visit Kronik Media's blog http://www.konikmedia.co.uk/blog
- HowardTO, on 04/25/2008, -0/+0this is super...... you do not value what you do not pay for... the developers job has evolved radically with the advent of CMS systems that build in strong Web2.0 functionality. Please visit the rather sticky demo of Birtix - their Bitrix Virtual Lab: http://www.bitrixsoft.com/sitemanager/demo.php.
- LiberalsSuckAss, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This article is crap.
There are pieces of truth in it, certainly. But this cliffs-notes abbreviation of what was clearly an in-depth seminar should never make the front page.
Too little detail, and some of their points are highly questionable.
Buried as lame. - gaiden2k5, on 10/12/2007, -2/+01) nice model, serious, i am impressed.
2) if i could afford it i had take his advice about focus on things a little bit, step1, step2, step3, step38, step39, step4, step5, step38, step39, step38, step38, step39, step39, step39, step39...*yawn*...step39 again... - gingerchris, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I think they mean holidays. Crazy Americans with their crazy words.
- wewa, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2how did this get digg?
marked as spam.
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is