The Web Designers Guide To Success

If you are a free lance web designer or developer you will know just how difficult it can be to earn a dime in the world of web design. I have learned a lot of lessons, most of them the hard way. Being great at web design and being great with clients, are two very different requirements. By setting yourself these basic rules, and sticking to them you will save yourself becoming victim to a number of pitfalls. That’s why I have put together this guide to help maximize your projects success.

Price Projects Realistically

A classic mistake many freelancers make is to guesstimate a figure when costing a project. You need to be realistic when you work out the cost of a project, otherwise you are guaranteed to run at a loss, either in the time you spend, or the money you make. The best method is to work out a realistic hourly wage you want to be paid. Then take that number and multiply it by the number of hours you honestly believe it will take to complete the project. This will give you the magic number you should look to put forward in an invoice.

Phase Your Payments

When you embark on a new project of any scale, always consider phase payments. Talking about money can be a tricky subject, but if you clearly define a structure it will make life a lot easier. Phase payments require you to segment a project, when phase 1 is completed X amount is paid. then phase 2 can commence, and so on. This not only ensures confidence between yourself and the client, its also a great motivational tool.

Always, Always Write a Brief

I cannot stress this point enough, it will save you a lot of grief and is common practice in many design agencies. By writing a clearly defined brief, which your client then signs, you are creating a safety net for yourself. Writing an outline of objectives ensures a clear understanding of what the client expects and what needs to be achieved. In the classic case that a client decides half way through a project to change a feature or include new functionality, you have a signed document, which you can refer them to. Depending on the request you can then decide if the change is within scope, or needs to be charged as an addition.

Take Time To Organize

The success of a freelance project relies on your ability to multitask and prioritize yourself. If you do this it will give you the focus you need to achieve your goals. There are some powerful open source project management tools out there free for you to use. Basecamp is my personal favorite. By breaking down a project into individual tasks, you can clearly identify your work flow and timeliness as well as focus on individual goals.

Be Professional

When you’re dealing with a client keep it business like, remember the boundaries, don’t mistake your client for your friend. Use email instead of Instant Messaging. Keep them up to date with progression reports. Lay boundaries for times when you want to be contacted and stick to it. This not only shows you mean business, but gives the client more confidence in your professionalism.

Perfect Your After Sale Service

So three months passes after you have completed a project and your old client comes back to you, they have uncovered a problem and they want you to sort it out. Now this is a classic example of something that happens time and again. What’s important to remember here is how you would feel if you were in their position. By going that step further you can cement some strong business relationships and build a good business network, its worth considering that around 80% of business tends to come from referrals. So by helping out a client, you could be indirectly helping yourself. Im not saying there is a right or wrong to this, it depends on a lot of factors, but if you put together a brief and followed the steps the ball would be in your court and the choice would be yours.

This is not a definitive guide — far from it — but it’s a good reference to help designers and developers alike succeed in this ever more competitive industry.