[thelist] Freelance Web Designer

Cory Preus cory_preus at cnt.com
Tue Apr 3 16:29:35 CDT 2001


> HOWEVER, I strongly discourage anyone from giving away their work, even
when
> getting started. You *must* place a value on the work you perform, and it
> *must* be competitive in your marketplace.

Very good point. I concur.

> But don't jump in without a clear picture of what
> you're getting into. You can get a lot of jobs by networking, but if you
do
> not know how to follow through with great work, great service, and solid
> business practices, your network will soon disappear.

+1

I put together a business plan for my "up and coming" company so I'd keep
focused on what my goals were. There's a good article on A List Apart about
business plans.

http://www.alistapart.com/stories/business1/

Also, on one of the threads a link to an information architecture turtorial
on Webmonkey so you can move forward with your business plan and develop a
methodology for designing sites.

http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/design/site_building/tutorials/tutorial1
/

One of things I've found difficult is turning down business after I've
created goals. Once you've defined your worth, it generally isn't in your
best interest to lower your rate to accomodate a client. Chances are their
needs (read: quality of site) would be met by a soopa famous neighborhood
web wunderkind that would do it for a $100 in three hours.

Writing a business plan and process for design helped me define what I
provided and how much I would charge. Any advice from veteran freelancers
about turning down clients?




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