Everyone likes a bargain and wants to get the best deal possible. Your clients are no different. But what happens when the good deal your client is looking for, is free work from you? read more
My path to successful client relationships and a flourishing web design business.
The following rules have helped me develop great relationships with my clients and grow my business faster than ever, all while raising my hourly rates. read more
Market research and knowing your competition is a crucial aspect of any successful business. If you don’t know the prices your competitors are charging, or the saturation level of your niche market, you are operating in the dark. One way to discover the state of the freelance web design market is to publish a fake job request and see how your competitors respond. (I realize some may find this approach a bit underhanded, but I found it to be an effective way to learn about your competition). The easiest and most basic research can be accomplished with a job posting on CraigsList. I recently submitted a web design ad for the NYC marketplace and have gathered the results, along with my conclusions, below. read more
To run your business well, you need to know what your time is really worth. Before you jump into comparing yourself to your competitors, first you should estimate how much money you realistically need to live a happy life. read more
In the beginning of my freelance web design career I read a bunch of books teaching how to start and run a web design business. All of them were claiming that a professional dress, preferably a suit with a well ironed shirt and a fancy tie, will make you stand out from other web designers and make you look like somebody taking things seriously. In fact, I tested this technique over the last few years and at one point one of my clients, and now a friend (@HermannM, who luckily for me hired me), told me: “Daniel, I am glad I met you and we work together, but I must tell you the first day we met you scared the shit out of me. You were dressed like a damn lawyer.” read more
The competition is huge in the web design marketplace, but there are still hundreds of potential projects popping up daily. With the right focus on sources of leads which can easily bring you new clients, you will stay busy all year long. But things change fast and the way you find new web design clients changes every year. What worked last year may not bring you clients today, and popular social media places, even if seen as a potential source of new clients, are not always where you want to invest your time. read more
It may sound impossible to win a client while competing with offshore competitors who offer rates up to 90% less than you, yet it looks like crazy outsourcing practices are not so common anymore (Think globally, act locally). Of course, there are companies who are able to find cheap sources of labor out of the country, and some individuals cannot resist $5/hour. However, I meet many people (potential clients) who have had a bad experience with outsourcing and learnt their lessons the hard way – “you get what you pay for.” It turns out most start-ups and individual entrepreneurs understand the power of working with a local web designer. read more
There are many ways for web professionals to generate extra income, and the best part is many of these opportunities can create passive income with little preparation. Web development services can be easily incorporated with other services which do not require any new skills. In this series of posts I will introduce some ideas for earning extra income and walk you through the steps on how to execute them. In the post below I discuss hosting and site maintenance services. read more
My business model is based upon web design, coding, and managing projects. In this blog post I am going to explain how I manage projects. This process doesn’t always go as well as expected, but you might be able to tweak your next project and get an even better chance of a success rate. read more
Starbucks is great! Not only do I use Starbucks to meet my clients, but the location is great for getting work done. Not to mention enjoying a cup of brew to keep me a saint from working long hours. read more
