ainsliejohnson.com » Web Design

How Web Designers Can Earn More on Projects

Internet News — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:45:18 +0000

Web designers may be at a disadvantage when it comes to increasing the amount of revenue that is generated on a project. Service businesses such as a web designer are basically selling their time and expertise on the project. Many service businesses rely on increasing the amount of time that is spent on a project to increase revenues to their business. However, this can lead to a significant loss of personal time and more time spent in the office working.

Another approach is called for when a service related business such as a web designer wants to increase revenue. Each business is different and may require with a little tinkering of the techniques to suit the individual needs of the business. With some investment into finding a good strategy, a service business can increase revenue without a serious increase in office hours.

Choose your projects carefully. There is nothing worse than taking on a project that seems simple on the surface and discovering that it is eating away significant amounts of your time and energy. You watch helplessly as your rate per hour drops and your stress levels rise. Try to be choosey when you are selecting the projects that you will take on in your web design business.

Work and network with other web designers who may be able to take on some of your overflow of work when necessary. OUTSORCING IS THE KEY. A good network that is available to take on some of the additional work that you may have from time to time can help you manage your work time more efficiently and still bring in revenue for your business.

Do not provide hosting services to your clients. This will keep you dealing with customer service for much longer than you planned with each project. Customer support is not the business you are in when you have a web designing business. Look for a hosting company that meets the needs of your clients, but may also have a good affiliate program. Never pass your customer on to a poor hosting service though because of the affiliate program. The client’s needs must surpass your own. You should not use reseller hosting programs for the same reason. You will end up spending all of your time with client support instead of web designing.

Pay attention to where you market your services. Do not waste your time marketing to companies that are expecting low cost services. You will end up with poor paying clients and a significant drop in your rate per hour. Market your business as a premium service to clients that do not have a problem paying for quality service.

Network with other businesses that operate online. Copywriters, designers and other professionals will be happy to work with you and share leads. You also have a full network of professionals to help with some of your client demands.

Charge higher rates for short term projects. The goal should be a long term relationship with your clients. When you do take on short term projects, arrange the time frame to accommodate your other projects effectively. Let your clients know that you are working with a number of clients.

Focus your attention on the clients that offer the most growth potential. In the beginning, you may be tempted to take on all clients in an effort to meet your income needs. This is an inefficient way of doing business. Put the clients that have the most opportunity for growth and long term income at the top of your client list.

Work on saying no to some of the demands of your clients. As you work in your business, you will become familiar with the demands that are just going to eat up your valuable time. Learn how to say no when your plate is too full. Your focus should always be on increasing your rate per hour and not taking on all clients for every project.

2 More Templates Available

Ainslie Johnson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:08:41 +0000

A couple more templates have been added to the free templates page.

TABLOID is a very simple 2 column template intended to look a bit like a red top newspaper.

Shades of Grey (Take 2) is 3 column template based on the theme that you see here on ainsliejohnson.com.

Back to work…

More Free Web Templates to Come

Ainslie Johnson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:30:00 +0000

I’ve been browsing through some old files again and have found 4 or 5 website templates that need finishing off.

I’m going to work through these over the next few weeks and release them here on my Free Website Templates page.

More news later.

Shades4TAMB Theme Released

Ainslie Johnson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:40:54 +0000

A new theme for Thingamablog is now available.

Shades4TAMB is a light, two column theme with a sidebar on the right and a horizontal menu for pages.

The theme is based on the Grigio Template and very similar to the current theme you can see in use here on ainsliejohnson.com.

More information, demo and download can be found here.

Webgazette Theme is Released

Ainslie Johnson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:55:34 +0000

The Webgazette theme is now available. More details on the Webgazette Theme page. Get it while it’s hot

WordPress Code Crazy and phpDocumentor

Ainslie Johnson — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:32:14 +0000

It’s been a long while since I last played around with WordPress themes.

I’d heard that things had moved along to the stage where WordPress themes had become very complicated and more about programming than design, but I’m glad to say, that while some things have changed, they haven’t changed that much.

Once of the most obvious changes is the use of phpDocumentor tags in the default and classic themes. I’m not sure why WordPress have started to use these tags in the themes. I haven’t been able to find any official explanation about why they are being used. Maybe it’s just good practice and part of a wider WordPress code documentation project?

These tags aren’t that significant as far a creating themes are concerned. It has to be borne in mind that these are just comments at the beginning of the file which can be used by phpDocumentor for creating documentation for php projects.

I found these quite useful and have adopted them myself and used more tags to record more details about the theme such as author, version and what needs doing etc. Most WordPress files already have comments at the beginning and indeed throughout the file anyway.

Otherwise things don’t seem to have changed that much and it’s business as usual.

A New WordPress Theme

Ainslie Johnson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:26:04 +0000

I’ve been looking through some old files and I found the old ainsliejohnson.com theme and though it would be a good idea to release it into the wild.

I’ve decided to call it “Webgazette” as it was originally used here on ainsliejohnson.com. It’s a good looking theme and I’m sure that many people will want to download it. I’m not making any promises as to when it is likely to be released, as it needs a bit of tidying up and refinement, but hopefully it’ll not take too long to get knocked into shape. It’s also been a while since I worked with WordPress themes so the coding may have changed a bit and I’m going to need to catch up a bit. I’ll post more news at a later date when I’ve made some progress.

Advice For a Wannabe Web Designer

Ainslie Johnson — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:25:43 +0000

I though I would share this for the benefit of any budding theme designers out there. It can be quite a shock just how much attention can come your way when you start making WordPress themes.

I got a little burnt out by the demands of a trying to support users of my WordPress themes. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has experienced this. At one stage I was getting hundreds of emails a day and as much as I loved designing templates and themes it can soon turn into a real chore when the support requests never let up.

You know, you feel guilty ignoring emails but I don’t have the time to answer them all. I guess it the global scale of the WordPress theme thing – if you get a popular theme then you catch a lot of interest and it can be relentless.

Another thing is that the emails ranged from very polite request (which were a pleasure) for help to incredibly rude and sometimes insulting demands (that got ignored) for help. There’s no accounting for the way some folks behave!

I’m not sure what the ideal solution is. You could just say up front that there is no support. I’m not sure this is the best option if you want a good reputation, though. Maybe you could charge for support from the beginning. In my experience this will see off most support requests. Like I said I’m not sure what the solution is, but it’s something you ought to think about before releasing any themes into the wild.

I suppose, you got to learn to cope with it the best way you can and not feel guilty about it.

Good luck out there.

Get Free Web Designs

Ainslie Johnson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:00:48 +0000

I’m always on the lookout for good web design template sites and here’s a new one you may be interested in.

Whether you a template designer showcasing your talents or you’re looking for a neat new design for your website, Get Free Web Designs has something to offer. So far GFWD only has 360 designs but is growing at a good rate. You’ll even find some of my website templates there.

What you waiting for? Go and check out GFWD now!