The Website Redesign Conversation You Should Be Having With Your Clients

Published May 30th, 2013 in Business - 7 Comments

When clients seek a website redesign, they don’t always know what they want. They know they want a different look, new structure or revised copy, but they may have trouble pinpointing their specific needs. By asking clients some basic questions about their motivations and goals for the redesign before creating a proposal, you’ll enhance communication and understanding so you can develop a clear picture of what the individual truly wants.

Website Redesign Questions to Ask

Tell me about your organization in a few sentences. This request gives you a snapshot of what the organization does.

What would happen if your current site stays the same? This question helps a client pinpoint the items on the site that do not work. For example, the website may not be easy to use on mobile browsers.

How to Plan Your Design Portfolio in 11 Easy Steps

Published April 30th, 2013 in Business - 6 Comments

Online design portfolios are essential to your identity. It’s the one place online where potential clients can go to read about who you are and what type of work you are capable of producing. There are many factors that go into a well-presented portfolio, such as organization and uniqueness. Planning out your design portfolio doesn’t have to be difficult. If you break it down into these 10 easy steps, it’s a lot simpler to wrap your head around.

1. Preparation

View your portfolio as a learning experience. Your portfolio is a showcase that’s all about you – this means you want to profile yourself in the best light possible. Especially for a design student or someone who’s just starting out, preparing your portfolio will be essential in your development as a professional.

83-Bits has a well-designed portfolio that showcases his work nicely.

Try This One Simple Trick That Will Help You Sell More Web Design Projects

Published April 26th, 2013 in Business - 5 Comments

Prior to selling my web agency, HotPress Web, last year and starting uGurus, a new venture to help web professionals become more profitable, I pitched a lot of website projects.

I have lost more deals than I have won. Many more.

There were times in my early days when I was pitching so many website deals, I would lose track of proposals I had sent out. My process was broken.

I have created and sent over 950 website proposals to date.

Now, when I say that, you might picture in your mind that I just quick fired a bunch of documents in response to contact form inquiries or RFPs (Request for Proposals). But that’s not my style.

I like the hustle.

Each and every one of those 950 proposals consisted of countless phone calls, in person meetings, driving to remote offices, and sitting through more meet and greets than I care to go into. I have sat in the most ornate conference rooms and the smallest kitchens.

With only one objective: sell as many website as I can muster the energy to do.

The Biggest Waste

The Process of Ecommerce Trademarking

Published April 12th, 2013 in Business - 0 Comments

Your ecommerce site is a great tool for selling your products and services online. If your business is growing there are chances that others might want to make a copy of your website or some of its features to cash in on the popularity. There is also the added risk of your online store being accused of unauthorized use of other people’s intellectual assets. The perfect solution for this is to get a trademark. In the United States you can easily get a trademark for products and servicemark for services. Before we learn about the process of ecommerce trademarking let us understand a few basic things about the trademark.

What is Trademark?

A trademark is a recognizable sign that can include a word, name, symbol, or design, or combination of any or all these items that is intended to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others. It indicates the source of the goods. Similarly servicemark differentiates between services provided by two different businesses. Most ecommerce sites try and register a servicemark whereby they can protect their logos, taglines and slogans along with the brand name.

When we are talking about trademarks and servicemark we need to understand that they are of two distinct types – registered trademark or unregistered trademark. Let us take a look at each of these in detail.

25 iPhone and iPad Apps for Freelance Designers

Published February 18th, 2013 in Business - 6 Comments

Having access to the right tools can increase productivity and efficiency for freelancers. There are a number of iPhone and iPad apps that can be used by freelance designers for various purposes to help with their work in one way or another. In this article we’ll highlight 25 apps that can prove to be extremely useful for freelancers. They involve a variety of different aspects of a freelance designers work, including time tracking, invoicing, productivity, designing, wireframes, contact management, and more.

MyPrice (free)

If you are like most freelancers pricing your services is one of the biggest challenges that you face. MyPrice can help by calculating hourly or project-based prices based on information like the client, location, your education, your experience, and more.

How to Value Your Website Before Selling

Published February 1st, 2013 in Business - 13 Comments

Are you considering selling your website and want to know how much you may be able to get for it when you sell?

Perhaps someone has made an offer for your website, or you have just lost passion for the website itself or the market your involved in. Or it could be that you’re just happy to cash out and do something else with your money.

Whatever your motivation you need to know how to value your website and come up with what it’s worth before selling so you don’t get ripped off and leave money on the table.

5 Excellent Options for Creating Proposals

Published January 30th, 2013 in Business, Design Process - 1 Comment

A major part of being able to secure clients for design projects is the ability to present proposals and communicate with clients who are trying to decide which designer to hire. Having a professional-looking proposal that provides the right details for clients will help to increase your conversion rates and to land more work.

There are a few different web apps that exist for the purpose of helping with the creation and the management of proposals. In this post we’ll take a look at the leading options, along with some templates for printed proposals.

Bidsketch

5 Essential Skills and Characteristics for Freelancers

Published November 21st, 2012 in Business - 10 Comments

When it comes to the skills and characteristics that are essential to having success as a freelancer designer, the most obvious ones involve creative skills and the ability to design. While this is of course important, there is far more to achieving success as a freelancer than simply being able to design. In fact, the non-creative skills and characteristics are sometimes the most important since they often have a profound impact on the experience for clients.

In this article we’ll take a quick look at 5 skills and characteristics that you should be aware of if you are currently freelancing or planning to make the jump. You won’t necessarily need to be an expert in these areas prior to getting started as a freelancer. In most cases, with some effort and attention these are things that pretty much anyone can do. With time you can even improve your abilities in some areas that you may consider to be weaknesses.

7 Options for Low Budget Projects

Published November 7th, 2012 in Business - 1 Comment

A common challenge that most freelancer web designers face is the fact that many people, businesses, and organizations are working with very limited budgets. There are a lot of freelancers out there that have no trouble finding potential clients who would be interested in their services, but finding clients who are willing and able to pay a reasonable price for a professional website can be much more difficult.

The freelancer then faces the dilemma of passing up a potential client or trying to accommodate the low budget. As all designers learn very quickly, a low budget project doesn’t always mean that it will be easy or that the client will have reasonable expectations about what they can get for their money.

Many designers choose to pass on lower budget clients, and if you’re able to stay busy with more profitable projects it only makes sense to focus your time on those projects.

The problem is that many freelance designers don’t have the luxury of turning away a low-budget project in favor of one that will pay a little more. For many designers the low-budget projects may be necessary in order to stay busy and to stay in business.

If you’ve been in the frustrating situation of trying to make a low-budget project a profitable use of your time, the good news is that there are some options.

Small budget projects aren’t for everyone, and if you’re doing fine with your current strategy than by all means, keep doing what you are doing. But for those freelancers who are just getting started or those who need to make low-budget projects work, these tips can help.

7 Tips for Successful Side Projects

Published October 31st, 2012 in Business - 4 Comments

Designers and developers have unlimited potential and opportunities when it comes to side projects. With your skills, knowledge, and experience you can do any number of different things aside from your full-time work to make a little extra money, or just for fun. Some of the possibilities include blogging, designing stock graphics for sale (like icons, vectors, etc.), designing and selling website templates or themes, running a community website, and writing a book or e-book. Of course, there are countless possibilities, these are just some of the more common choices.

Many designers choose to take on side projects because they can provide a creative outlet where you get to make all of your own decisions, rather than just following the wishes of a client. They can also help to give you something productive to do during down time between client projects, or for those who are working to build a portfolio they can often serve as excellent work samples. Side projects also have potential to make some money, and in some cases they can even lead to a full-time income. They can even provide some excellent networking and collaboration opportunities. So as you can see, there are a lot of reasons for designers to consider taking on a side project.

In this article we’ll take a look at seven keys or tips that will hopefully help to make your own efforts with side projects more beneficial.