My interest in web design started many years ago. I started building websites for my friends and things grew from there. The trouble is that I wasn’t making money. Not a lot of it, anyway. I always looked for ways to give people a break and save them money while giving them the site they needed. I worked with client budgets instead of setting prices and sticking to them.
I know now that this is a guaranteed recipe for failure. In working with some new (and extremely successful) business partners lately, I’ve come to realize that making money at your craft isn’t a particularly complicated or difficult proposition, but there are a few things that you can’t bend on:
1) Be the best (or at least very good) at what you do.
2) Set high prices and charge a lot of money for being the best.
3) ????
4) Profit.
Although this is exceedingly simple, I’ve been guilty of violating these rules. I don’t have prices listed anywhere. I negotiate on rates that I do quote. I help friends who need it. What’s paradoxical about this is that these projects end up taking the longest and causing the most headache. Some of the biggest contracts I’ve landed were for sites that have been turned around very quickly – sometimes over the course of a weekend. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the way to make money is simpler and less stressful than the path that’s fraught with fail.
This needs to be said as well: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking on projects to help clients that have a genuine need for your services; I think that helping those in need is both important and fulfilling. Projects like that can’t comprise the bulk of what you do however, unless the margins on your other projects are such that these losses are negligible. If this is the case, please hire me immediately (joke).
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Boy Do I KNOW that is the truth! Live and learn but its always nice to have people who will honestly point you in the right direction!
Heh, thanks for the comment. I’m glad this hit home. Best of luck with whatever it is that you do :-D
When I first started doing design. My rule was whatever I though the site was worth… I would multiply it by x2 or x4. It is amazing what type of respect you get when someone is paying you $8k to build a website vs someone who is paying you $2k or nothing.
They don’t waste your time. 80/20 rule at work man :)
Keep killing it buddy!
#PSA – I don’t do website anymore. ;) Affiliate Marketing all the way.
SUCH a good point. 80/20 FTW.
I wish I had applied those principles years ago. I’ve burned out a few times…and I’m just now seeing the light :) Web Design isn’t my calling in life, that’s for sure. You’ll be seeing some of my real talents coming to the web here shortly. All brought to you in part by Thesis, natch ;)
#thesiswp #devlicence #crushit
Great points! You can end up spending a ton of time working on projects that just aren’t very profitable. You also have to be careful on who you work with. I recently turned down a good project because the client was going to be a pain in you know where. In any business, I think it is important to be both picky and prideful! You’re better off because of it.
When Pam Slim came to Atlanta, she had a portion of her presentation where she stressed finding who “your people” are. Your ideal client, basically. I’ve had to let some clients go recently and although it was bittersweet, it puts my business in a much better position to succeed in the long term. It’s just business.
Being picky is essential. Thanks for the comment, Chris.