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Thread: Web Design????

  1. #1
    Uniqueperformancewest
    Hey Guys/Gals,
    I have a buddy who is trying to break into the web design business but is curious where to go looking for jobs. I'm working with him on getting off the ground and how to go about owning his own business etc. but I'm just not quite sure where web design companies get there business. I understand that the majority probably earn business through word of mouth. But how do you start in the beginning, don't get me wrong he has done alot of websites and has been designing sites for about 5 years. However he's just now making it a real business, before it was purely for friends and people who had asked him to jobs for them. How can I help him get more jobs, what are some good ways to get his name out there and get things cranking for him. Any ideas would be great, I appreciate your responses and assistance.
    Thanks John

  2. #2
    LhcBrad
    My advice is to have some samples of some of the work he has done.
    The other is to be a bit cheaper then the competition. I would go as far as making a few freebies to show what he can do. Any business takes time from the start. Lets see some samples im sure enough people would give an opinion here and there is a ton of information and opinions here. Good luck to him.
    Just my 2 cents

  3. #3
    Uniqueperformancewest
    Just looking for ideas guys, some of our thoughts have been in the direction of mailers and flyers etc. that we could send out to business's. My question to everyone on here is in what way would a business owner or manager liked to be approached about having a website created for them or more importantly re-designed. My buddies main focus is going to be re-designs because there are alot of websites out there that are very dated. But, would it be best to be contacted via a mailed letter and flyer, a phone call, an email, or in person at their business.
    Thanks Again Guys,
    John

  4. #4
    SJP
    I am in the IT/IS industry, small business owner (non-web related). A couple of things I would suggest that worked for us.
    1. Prospect a vertical locally who have jacked sites (we are on one right now)... Give smoking deals and cut your teeth making the transition to family an friends to an active client list. This is a b!tch but a lot of small business need to build the street credit.
    2. Look for small marketing and advertising firms in the area and have him propose his portfolio. Give them a distribution rate so they are making a cut. Keeps the firms from possibly losing business to bigger venues.
    3. Team up with other small to medium IT/IS businesses that do not have web design (similar approach to idea #2).
    None of this is groundbreaking info (I am sure you do this as a business owner). That service segment is super competitive with offshore and killer templates being sold for dirt. In my opinion you need to be able to have the end to end web value proposition w/ customer service to turn numbers in that area. Gone are the days of 50k website designs being the norm.

  5. #5
    old school daycruiser
    I can find him a good job (s) if he's not a flake. I'll even hire him myself if he lives in Sacramento, and is not a flake.
    Notice the theme: Don't be a flake.
    Jay

  6. #6
    Strippoker
    craigslist is a great area or myspace, The flyers work really well for alot of my friends that do sites they get the new business list from the city and hit up the new ones when they get the permits. the only down side is with sites like joomla and rocket theme being now popular alot of people are going to doing sites from home with very little learning curve needed.

  7. #7
    DeltaSigBoater
    If he knows: HTML code, XHTML code, CSS, Flash (Action Scripting), PhotoShop and Illustrator, has a solid portfolio & is not a flake then he should have no troubles getting work.
    I have a degree in Multimedia/Graphic Design and they didnt teach Coding in school, they expected you to learn it on your own time & know it

  8. #8
    Uniqueperformancewest
    Thanks guys for the ideas I have definetly started working the direction that you've mentioned and now I have a better idea of how to approach it.
    Hes definetly not a flake, and works very hard and quickly to meet deadlines and get jobs done.
    Here are a few of the more recent sites hes done, nothing to crazy but that hasn't necessarily been because he can't sometimes your just limited by the customer.
    http://www.intersectconsult.com/monarch/monarch1/
    http://www.uniqueperformancewest.com/
    http://srtmotorsports.com/motors/
    http://www.srtmotorsports.com/catalog/
    A current project he's working on;
    http://www.premiersitedesigns.com/wesco1/
    His new site that hes currently working on re-doing;
    http://www.premiersitedesigns.com/newsite/
    His old site; http://www.premiersitedesigns.com/
    Thanks again guys for the help, were working on creating a new flyer that is clean and gives off and executive feel yet shows the creative nature of his approach to the industry.
    John

  9. #9
    Uniqueperformancewest
    Delta,
    I asked and he is fully capable of all the skills you mentioned above, now its just finding the jobs haha.
    Thanks John

  10. #10
    mxbundy
    Can he take a look at my site and give me an estimate?
    I want my site to have a products section like the car site sample you posted.
    And I may need another site built from scratch. Again product orientated.
    My site is X-tremevintageyz.com
    Thanks.

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