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bejamshi
02-22-2007, 01:51 PM
Hi, I have been specializing in the print and advertisement part of things. Just recently started providing web design.
My question is that we all started at one point or another with just about anything, can I still offer webdesign services under products on my website?
I also have resources available to me that I can assign others to do the work.
My advice is to be transparent about what you can and can not do. Even though I've been doing this for a long time, I know what I don't know -- and it's a lot! lol
I am pretty careful to only take on work that I feel confident I can deliver. I would be doing my clients a disservice any other way. I take on challenging projects, and do things that may be new to me, but still has to be within my comfort zone. (I often research feasibility before going into uncharted territory).
I let my clients know when something falls outside my skill set. I let them know that I will either discuss it with a consultant that I work with (subcontractors, but I don't necessarily say that, just "I'll talk with my programmer about this") OR I will say straight-up that I'm not the right person for the task and either refer them on or give them a thanks but no thanks.
Keeping the client's best interest in mind will not only save you headaches, but that kind of kharma usually comes back around for you.
Does that help at all?
bejamshi
02-22-2007, 09:09 PM
Yes sounds great. I can do websites, but not the complex ones with shopping carts and such. But like you and I both said here, we can always subcontract it. There are thousands of talented web designers who love to take on such projects. Thank you for your input EC.
amitrampal
02-22-2007, 10:51 PM
EC is right, be transparent! But if you just started on building your interest in web designing i would suggest invest little time than subcontracting it. Once you start subcontracting, your personal interest to work on websites would fade off. So try working on small website projects and then go for the biggies.
Cheers,
bejamshi
02-22-2007, 11:00 PM
Thank you amitrampal. Right now I did my own website myself so like you said slowly with time.
Drazan
02-23-2007, 03:54 AM
I'd say challenge yourself and build for yourself before offering web design to your clients. Do 4-6 different sites to learn how to do different layout and information and function challenges.
Read up on SEO - it's the new thing and people know about it and what to know what you can do about it as well.
But as others have said - stay within your realm of knowlege while dealing with customer sites and expand your knowlege experimenting with your own.
I have 4 domains now that I can play with for different builds. A lot of what I do is interactive or ecommerce so I build a "non-live" version and once approved then I push it to live.
bejamshi
02-23-2007, 03:57 AM
Drazan nice look, and thanks for the info.
btw, if you are interested in SEO this is a great place to start. horse's mouth.
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769
bejamshi
02-23-2007, 04:06 AM
[quote=EC]btw, if you are interested in SEO this is a great place to start. horse's mouth.
Your so nice. Thanks :p
I am nice! Finally! Somebody noticed. heeehee.
bejamshi
02-23-2007, 04:13 AM
And I like rap, and i bet you like crazy wabbits too?
Like? More like love, duh.
bejamshi
02-23-2007, 04:34 AM
http://i12.tinypic.com/452qiaa.jpg
wienerdog
02-23-2007, 06:05 PM
I'd say challenge yourself and build for yourself before offering web design to your clients. Do 4-6 different sites to learn how to do different layout and information and function challenges.
Read up on SEO - it's the new thing and people know about it and what to know what you can do about it as well.
But as others have said - stay within your realm of knowlege while dealing with customer sites and expand your knowlege experimenting with your own.
I have 4 domains now that I can play with for different builds. A lot of what I do is interactive or ecommerce so I build a "non-live" version and once approved then I push it to live.
I've learned a lot while working with an SEO firm that my company has worked with in trying to achieve higher rankings with search terms we target. The consultant was great in giving stats on rankings, etc. as well as a good resource for programmers to do background JavaScript and some CSS stuff that was too advanced for me to grasp quickly.
I also recommend designing several different kinds of sites, even mock ones, just to get a variety available. I've designed a couple freelance websites in addition to my company's site and it's been helpful to get experience and learn my limitations. Even when I took my job here, I was honest in what I could do. They saw my print design portfolio and asked about my web design skills. I was honest, explaining that I can do some front-end design, but background scripting for Java, CGI, etc. was out of my range, and they'd be hard pressed to find a designer that is strong in both web and print design.
They appreciated my honesty, and since starting the job, I have tried to expand my skills and take on as much as possible to save the company costs in hiring people at an hourly rate.
To be good at what you do, you need to do it frequently. Design skills aren't like riding a bike, they require practice and regular usage. The thought that you can be a jack-of-all-trades renaissance designer of all media is hard to pull off without biting off more than you can chew.
Drazan
02-23-2007, 08:56 PM
My limits are:
Can I build a complete app from scratch to do what the client wants. nope.
Can I find a prebuilt app and twist it around, upside down and sideways to get it do to what the client whats. Yup. Well at least 95% of the time. The other 5% I leave to a team of web designers who can build custom applications.
Being upfront and not over extending yourself will lead you to a solid foundation for furthering your web design skills. That one person that you "try" to do a website for and fail, will tell a colleage and so on until you get a bad rap.
If you have a great client that really, really really wants you to handle a website that is out of your range, find a freelancer to help you out. You can design it- they can build it. win-win-win situation for all three of you.
=)
Jade