At one of my first jobs, my lunch constantly disappeared from the community refrigerator. There were no clues and, being New York, “nobody saw nuttin!”

I tried marking my lunch. I tried notes pleading with people to not take my lunch. I tried hiding my lunch behind cans, etc. Nothing worked. One day, after my lunch disappeared, I shut the refrigerator door and laughed maniacally. Someone asked me what was so funny.

“Today is the day I find out who has been stealing my lunch,” I replied. “I put rat poison on my sandwich! We’ll find the thief in about an hour when he or she starts dying.”

Sure enough, a coworker screamed and ran around like she was on fire. As she was about to be taken to the hospital to have her stomach pumped, I laughed and admitted it wasn’t really poisoned. Naturally, I was fired. It didn’t matter that this woman had stolen my lunch for her mid-morning snack every day. It seems my “joke” was considered “dangerous” and I was chastised for possibly “giving (her) a heart attack.”

Read more

“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.”

This quote is from William Edwards Deming, the man who almost single-handedly shaped the business and manufacturing culture of Japan into the powerhouse that it is today.

Some might argue he knows something about making profit.

When starting out it’s straight forward that the goal is to get customers, but it’s undeniable that the lifeblood of a sustainable business is return clients.

Every business has customers; they wouldn’t exist without them. Some of these customers will never return and this is why most business owners put a high emphasis on getting repeat customers. Read more

All freelance designers and developers eventually have to face these ultimate questions; “How much should I charge for my services? Should I charge by the hour, or by the project?“

And then, once that question is answered, of course, the question becomes, “How can I charge more?“

As opposed to a traditional job, in which you are paid a set rate based on what your boss, or your company, is willing to pay you, determining freelance pricing can be tricky.

As services such as design and development are rather abstract terms to most, and as the internet is still a relatively new medium, freelancers are left to wade through the muck in order to figure out their own worth. Read more

I don’t believe that the $3000 client is the lost cause we often think they are. Sure, for most agencies, a $3000 website is laughable; but I would argue that these clients present tremendous opportunities.

In particular, I think web designers can cash in on low-budget deals. I worked in the agency world for a long time, so it took me a while to fully accept this, but I think you will find that it’s possible.

The typical scenario involves a small-business owner interested in getting a new website. They’ll often have unrealistic expectations about how much it takes to design and build a website. Well, these expectations only seem unrealistic to us designers—I say they are undesirable, not unrealistic.

That said, the business owner might have budgeted only a few thousand dollars. Clients like this are frequently overlooked and turned away because they don’t seem to offer lucrative opportunities.

I think that a designer who works alone, or even in an agency, and has a solid system in place can make a great living working with clients just like this. With clear expectations and a rock-solid plan for getting it done, one doesn’t have to pass on such opportunities. Read more

It is assumed in the online business, especially in the design field, that most big clients are international.

But that doesn’t mean that all lucrative projects are with international clients. As companies such as the controversial BlitzLocal have discovered, there’s a vast and lucrative market for providing local businesses with online visibility.

While such businesses specialize in search marketing, the fact that they exist is fairly solid evidence that there’s a viable market for local design.

Before investing in an international advertising campaign, designers should consider the business opportunities in their local communities.

Whether a small town, regional center or global city, a designer’s community is a source of projects that never runs dry.

The 7 tactics below will help designers locate new clients, attract the attention of local business leaders and generate a region-based design empire. Read more

If you don’t like the idea of working for somebody else and you’re quite attracted to idea of world domination then starting a web design business might be right up your alley.

Unfortunately though, contrary to popular speculation, it’s not an easy ride.

In fact it’s probably the number one most difficult path which you could choose to follow in this industry.

But, if it’s the right decision for you, then it’ll all be worth while regardless of whether you’re a student or working at a full-time job and looking for a change.

In today’s post we’re going to cover the most important things you need to know about starting a web design business, and get input from other people throughout the industry.

Read more

While millions of people share the dream of working from home, very few understand its difficulties.

From online distractions to technical malfunctions, online entrepreneurs and freelancers face thousands of potential setbacks, each one threatening a decline in income or a pause in cash flow. We’re all familiar with this problem.

Yet the problem doesn’t affect every designer and developer. With so many tools available, anyone can optimize their work routine and increase productivity.

Becoming productive is about changing not only your behavior, but also your office environment, work style and software.

By using the right collection of software, online applications and utilities, changing your routine and managing your business can be fairly simple.

The following 14 applications are geared toward the design industry but would be effective in almost any online field. Read more

If a web design agency wants to increase their sales, there’s one way that’s easier and quicker than the rest: sell copywriting services.

When you sell copywriting to your clients, their websites will achieve more sales and better results.

In addition, your projects will run more smoothly and efficiently.

By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to sometimes even double your revenue and delight your clients at the same time.

Do you or have you considered offering copywriting services to your clients? Please share your views in the comments! Read more

Being a designer has never been easy. Working with clients, creative directors, marketing managers and other designers can take a toll on your patience and passion.

It’s important, as a professional designer, to avoid practices that could hurt your career or the company you work for.

Whether you work as a freelance designer or in a firm, avoid the following 15 bad habits that might be killing your design career.

What other habits do you think should be avoided in your design career? Please let us know in the comments section. Read more

We recently published an article covering 20 reasons not to become a freelancer.

The idea was that there are already a ton of articles out there talking about how great it is to be a freelancer, and all the benefits, but there are very few posts that talk about the flip side of all that.

Freelancing is not for everyone. It’s an important decision that not only affects your career, but can also affect your personal life and financial well-being. Of course, a lot of readers thought we were being way too negative about it all.

So here’s a follow-up to that article, covering ways you can overcome the potential pitfalls of freelancing if you’re still sure it’s a career move that’s right for you.

The good news is that virtually all of these things are manageable if you’re willing to put in the time and effort it takes to deal with them.

Read more

Ugly designs abound on the web, and behind each and every one of them is a “designer”.

In many of these cases the designers behind the sites are simply incompetent.

They’re often amateur designers or those who have little or no design training or people who design their own sites based on a book from their local library that’s ten years out of date.

But there are other times when the designer was perfectly capable of creating a better site.

So why would a perfectly competent designer create a site that isn’t very good? The answer is simple: they settled. It happens all the time. Read more

Just as it is for big corporations, successful branding is essential to the success of a freelancing business and to just one self-employed web worker.

It is often times overlooked, most likely because many don’t realize the large benefits that can come from it.

The first thing we think of when we think “brand identity” is a good logo.

A good logo can do wonders for a self-employed freelancer, but branding identity goes far beyond that, into entire website development, content, business cards, and even into offline scenarios.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at ways to define a brand for something as unique as a freelancing business, and what one needs to do to get started on the right track to a successful brand. Read more

Whichever business you’re in, and especially for anyone in the field of design, such as web designers, a business card can be as important as your website identity.

A business card creates a physical connection and bond between you or your business and your customers.

Just like in a website, business cards can become great interactive elements, but with the added ability to have real textures, different materials and shapes.

In this article, we’ll take a look at 100 truly outstanding business card designs which show that there are truly no limits to the design of a business card. Read more

Do you ever feel like you are endlessly repeating the same day? I do, every time I attend a kickoff meeting with a new client. Each time I find myself covering the same old issues from explaining the client’s role, to encouraging investment in content. I find it incredibly frustrating and this is what ultimately led me to write the Website Owners Manual.

This is not a criticism of clients, however. There is so little information that clearly defines their role. Sure, there is no shortage of material on usability, accessibility, online marketing and copywriting, but who has the time to read all of it?

The problem is that the client does need to have a very broad understanding (certainly more than can be communicated in a single article), however I have found that understanding certain key issues can make an enormous difference to the efficiency of a client.

What follows is a list of the 5 things that I believe will have the biggest impact on a client’s site. At least they should, if the client understands them and chooses to implement them. Read more

Most web design companies are one or two person operations, with little to no free time for items like after-sales service.

You are usually so busy with current projects that answering calls from past customers can seem like an unnecessary and non-profitable chore.

Here is how you can plug back in to your client base and turn customer service into the profit center that you never thought it would be. Read more