As a content and copy writer I usually leave the website building to the graphic designers and the coders but today I was thinking that maybe I should branch out a little bit to make myself more marketable. A quick jaunt around the internet will tell you that a lot of people are writing their own content and copy or hiring the $1/500 words people these days in an effort to save money (even though doing so could actually do them more harm than good in the long run). What I want to know is if there is still a market for basic website building out there or have most people figured out Fantastico/Wordpress/et al? I will probably give it a whirl for a few months anyway--more skills on the list of things I can offer to clients is better than less--but I wanted to get your input. Is it worth the time, effort and energy or is the well running dry?
Yes, and no. A lot of people are still internet illiterate. I heard people put classifieds on the news paper saying they will give free sites to business owners. In return they get the guy to sign up for hosting under their affiliate link. So that is how they make money selling basic sites.
Not everyone is internet savvy, you are likely best off targeting a different market that you wont find on these forums. You could definitely do basic website building, but quite possibly you should put an ad in the paper and attempt to do it locally.
Buy a domain name for your town, county or region. Approach local business people in your area and offer to build them a website. For each business, setup a subdomain. Such as: pet-store.yourtown.com doctor.yourtown.com local-tire-store.yourtown.com That way the business gets targeted keywords with the name of the town. Use wordpress, and the business owner supplies the content. Keep the rates low and run google adsense banners on the pages. Or charge a good amount and do not put banners on the page. Maybe give the business owner the choice. People want to keep their business local. You can provide a service of where you can go to the customer, do an interview, take pictures, and get an exact feel for what the customer wants. Be sure to dress like a professional when you go out for an interview. The home page can be a welcome page and a link to every business in the sidebar.