Hi, I want to start a web designing business. Please give your suggestions/advice on the kind of infrastructure that is required. For example : 1.Hosting : Should I go in for my own server in the very begining or just go for a reseller hosting solution for clients? How about VPS? 2.Softwares: What softwares are required for the designing part? Pl. keep on mind that in the begining I want to keep the expenses minimum. Currently I am planning to hire 1 programmer,1 designer,1 SEO/Content writing executive and 1 marketing execuive. We are expecting a business of about 8 to 10 projects per month. Thanks
wait. you got no expirience in designing or programming but you are planning to start a webdesign business? I guess this will be a real challenge for you but it's not impossible. what do you mean by software programs such as photoshop and dreamweaver?
1. Unless you have already made clients in the real world, you will probably not be offering hosting to your clients. Most Internet webmasters know what they are doing and won't want second-rate hosting from their web designer. If you have real-life businesses wanting your services, it'll be easier to con them into it. If you don't, don't waste your money. 2. Photoshop is a must. Don't try to skimp out on costs here. Dreamweaver is NOT necessary- in fact it is garbage. Look for a program named EditPlus+, it's what I use and it's well worth the $30 many times over. Oh by the way, you should probably seek merging the "marketing" and "SEO content executive" jobs since they are basically the same. All good SEO experts should also be able to market a website. If they can't they aren't worth your time.
Agreed, Photoshop is a must these days for web design. Either that or Paintshop Pro which is cheaper but inferior in my opinion. I don't think you should start to offer your services until you are confident using the software and that your designs are worth charging for. A few months learning Photoshop and coming up with some samples etc. will help you in the long run.
I run a one-man shop so my perspective on this will be a little different. I'm also a Mac user so that throws another wrench into the equation as well. As a solo designer and programmer I rely heavily on the following pieces of software: Photoshop, Coda (combination of text editor and FTP program) and On The Job (a time tracking/invoicing application). That's really all you need to get started: graphics editor, text editor and a way to track billing. Regarding hosting, I have a mix of solutions. My larger clients have in-house Exchange servers and agreements with area hosting companies so that makes my life a lot easier. For low traffic sites, you can safely go with a company like HostGator or DreamHost and just suffer through the short and infrequent downtimes. My expenses each month are minimal... maybe 1% of my revenue. Web design is a great business to get in because of the low cost and low barrier to entry. It's also pretty brutal if you don't find good clients willing to spend what you're worth. The best piece of advice I can possibly give you is this: find a niche and hammer it. Become the best web design firm for a category of business and focus on that. That was my plan and it's worked out well. Best of luck to you.
First of all you need to establish & design eye catching online portfolio through that you can impress and get some online clients by viewing past work and working standards. I think 70% clients get satisfied by viewing portfolio and company strategies.
I am glad to here you say this. I was looking into offering webdesign services to local businesses. Now, let's focus on sales? My preferred method of communication is email, however I will be marketing people who have NO website or email address. Most of the people in my niche do not even have offices. That really only leaves phone and regular mail. How should I approach my marketing strategy? Building websites is fun, but I have no idea how to run an offline marketing campaign. I would like some advice on this.
Ok, I should have touched on local sales because this is a topic near-and-dear to my heart. I no longer do work for local clients of any kind. The main reason is that, as you say, they have no experience with websites and don't understand the cost and time involved. So, inevitably, they expect you to move mountains for them at a low rate and with no regard for your time. The other big problem with doing web design for local businesses is, surprisingly, tech support. People think that since you built them a website you should know and be willing to help them get viruses off their machines, solve their issues with MS Office and all sorts of other annoying IT problems. Again, this is just based on my own personal experience and policies and things might be totally different in your area. I just don't consider local clients to be worth the time. Maybe as a way to start out and build your portfolio but not as a long term business plan.
See, I wanted to offer a one time fee to build the site with the option for ongoing support, updates, and hosting for $100 per quater. Doesnt this seem reasonable?
Sure, I'm big on maintenance fees and retainers. Like I said, my opinion is just based on my own personal experience over the last few years. Things could, and very well might be, much better wherever it is you're located.
Yea, Im not sure. I stumbled upon a niche in my local market that has a desperate need for more web presence. I was trying to find info on a project I am doing. With over 100 businesses listed in one county, only 5 of them had websites. One of them got my business, all the others missed out solely because they didnt have a website.
I don't mean to discourage you at all from trying something out. I'm probably just super-jaded from bad clients. It certainly doesn't hurt to give it a go and see what happens.
Im not discouraged, but back to the issue at hand. When you did take local businesses, how did you market? What percent did of the businesses did you close?
I've never done any kind of marketing for local work. It's all been word of mouth. My largest client is an area professional baseball team and once word got out local people started tracking me down. One local client then told another and so on. My other baseball clients (that's predominantly the niche I work in) have been word of mouth as well, with the exception of one that I randomly solicited via email.