Put on the brakes for a sec. Making a profit?

[tZ]

If your a freelance "web designer" than probably 80% of your job is going to be building sites. In which case you need to become familiar with at least HTML and CSS. In more practical terms though that will extend to some server-side programming at least enough to configure and setup a cms and JavaScript. Your not going to get very far only knowing HTML and CSS. You won't get anywhere merely knowing some Dreamweaver. Well… you might depending on how much you stretch the truth to client but you will ultimately end up leanrning the stuff I outlined whether or not you choose to or not. It is all a necessary part of web development and unless all you plan on doing is creating Photoshop mock-ups than it is a real concern and important part of entire process/product offering.

If you just want to learn this stuff to setup your own site than I highly advice saving up to hire someone. Just about any competent developer/designer hybrid will product something a million times better than what you could. That is if you hire someone reliable and experienced. If you hire the 15 year old down the street you says he knows web development because the site cost $300 bucks than well… your going to get crap. If you hire a worthless Indian overseas because they charge 50 cents for the entire project again your going to get crap. I guess it all depends how serious you are about your business. If you serious and planning to use the website as a vital marketing component than it damn well better be perfect and should be considered one of the most significant/important marketing expenses to allocate funds toward.

A website is your first impression for many so don't look like a fool. If you create it yourself without any prior experience your chances of looking like a fool are probably 90%+. There are so many sites out there that make the creator look idiots and that creates a direct reflection on the product/services offered. Don't be one of those.

[grrrafx]

Originally Posted by Bob

Word of advice? There's hardly any of us who are 'too creative' to do 'menial' work if it really needs to be done.

Collectively, we're too often just too mentally and physically lazy to look at it as anything other than 'beneath us'. Don't dismiss physical work as undignified. Some of the people I have met and respect the most have made a life out of doing a great job at actually sweating it out. There can be a great deal of honest dignity to committing one's self to physical labour. Unfortunately, it's not something non-labourers understand these days. And even more unfortunate, is that there are so few of us even willing to try.

I've cut more than a few blades of grass in my day, and loved it. Often, when mowing a lawn near a busy street in a well-to-do neighborhood, I knew there were "professionals" (doctors, lawyers, and the like) who were eaten up with envy at the sight of a guy with only a junior college education, yet setting his own hours, being outdoors in the sun and away from a desk/cubicle, getting a good tan, yet not making nearly as much moolah as they were, yet happy and content, nonetheless.
I came into contact with quite a few people who truly didn't know a thing about horticulture, laying sod, the different kinds of grass, what to charge for their services, etc. Yet they forged on ahead and down into a hole, lemming-like fashion, while guys like myself smart enough to become knowledgeable had to make it in a fly-by-night market which their ignorance only exacerbated.
Hence the analogy to graphic design...quite similar.

[grrrafx]

Originally Posted by KitchWitch

My husband was talking about trying to build that type of bicycle last night.

Please don't poke fun at the very lawn mower I had used back then. It got the job done, but was rough on 'me hind parts.

[grrrafx]

Originally Posted by tZ

If your a freelance "web designer" than probably 80% of your job is going to be building sites. In which case you need to become familiar with at least HTML and CSS. In more practical terms though that will extend to some server-side programming at least enough to configure and setup a cms and JavaScript. Your not going to get very far only knowing HTML and CSS. You won't get anywhere merely knowing some Dreamweaver. Well… you might depending on how much you stretch the truth to client but you will ultimately end up leanrning the stuff I outlined whether or not you choose to or not. It is all a necessary part of web development and unless all you plan on doing is creating Photoshop mock-ups than it is a real concern and important part of entire process/product offering.

If you just want to learn this stuff to setup your own site than I highly advice saving up to hire someone. Just about any competent developer/designer hybrid will product something a million times better than what you could. That is if you hire someone reliable and experienced. If you hire the 15 year old down the street you says he knows web development because the site cost $300 bucks than well… your going to get crap. If you hire a worthless Indian overseas because they charge 50 cents for the entire project again your going to get crap. I guess it all depends how serious you are about your business. If you serious and planning to use the website as a vital marketing component than it damn well better be perfect and should be considered one of the most significant/important marketing expenses to allocate funds toward.

A website is your first impression for many so don't look like a fool. If you create it yourself without any prior experience your chances of looking like a fool are probably 90%+. There are so many sites out there that make the creator look idiots and that creates a direct reflection on the product/services offered. Don't be one of those.

You are so right! The spectre of learning server-side tech and javascript has haunted me for long. The reality: hire a web designer.
Thanks fer dat.

[grrrafx]

...and I'm pondering the purchase of a recumbent. Does anybody enjoy surfing the world with a good bottle of wine, and a teensie weensie buzz?
Hoo-hoo! I'm off to 'da wild, blue yonder!

[Rachel B]

lmao Bob - great images

[The Lumberjack]

Two years ago I thought "screw this, I'm never mowing a lawn again" and put away my lawnmower. Now I have a beautiful meadow full of butterfly orchids!

[grrrafx]

...seems to have diverted us from our original subject...is anyone actually making a profit as a lone ranger in web design.

[Drazan]

I did at one point.

You have to be a :
salesman
marketer
accounting bookkeeper
customer service rep
graphic designer
coder

and do all jobs well.

You have to know your break even piont and your comfort point, minium profit which pays all the bills, and a "oh my, I'm making it" profit point where as you can put away money into savings. Costs do not only include your day to day bills, but also include business fees, taxes, memberships, and your own taxes as a owner or employee of your own company, equipment, marketing/advertising costs, even down to buying pens for your office.

Time spent
40% sales, marketing, customer care (including gathering all the information for the site.
5% accounting, banking, general finances
5% after sales followup
50% building the site

Everything is dependent upon the job of course, but rarely to I find a client with the information already at hand. A lot of them expect you to build a site out of nothing.

I hate the word "freelance" because if you are serious about living off what you do - it's a business.

[Rachel B]

my gf Ritama Web Design does... lots of people do, but it takes time. She started in the 90's and has built a rep and clientele base...