[jor133d]

First I would like to know if anyone else owns a web design company? Do you have any advice for me?

Ok, Well I get about 1 new client every 2 months. Also I feel because of my age I have to charge way less. I dont know what I should be charging for my services. I dont want to lose clients because of my price btu I dont want to get ripped off.

I can't sem to get my company off the ground. I would like to be getting clients regularly. How can I acheive this? Any Suggestions? The problem is I dont have a lot of money to invest? Should I borrow money to invest into my compnay? If so how should I invest?

I also developed DriveWisconsin.com. Its an local auto classifieds website. I can't get customers to sign up. I dont know how to market it when I have so little money. What do I do?

I need help!!!!


Thanks,
Jordan

[Onyx]

Hi Jordan.

The web market is a difficult one right now. There are far too many amateurs offering their services at a cut-price rate. Most students can build a web site and because of their situation they can afford to charge a lot less than the a proper business. This makes life very difficult!

But there are ways around this! If you can offer something they can't, then you're ahead! Price is not the main concern of most customers. They want to get value for money - and that's a whole lot different to low cost! They're also looking for customer service - something that most students can't offer!

There's a whole lot I could write here, but there's something much better and quite reasonably priced. I recently bought 'The web design business kit' from sitepoint.com Now this is something that I think could teach you a hell of a lot based upon what you've said above. It's no miracle, but for someone who wants to start a web design business and get ahead then it certainly teaches you what some people have learnt the hard way over many years!

The cost of the pack is $197, but I reckon it's worth it. It will teach you that charging the right money for a job is more likely to get you that job. Now if that's the case it will pay for itself after just one customer! The other thing it does very well is teach you how to make a business from just one customer. Now that has surely got to be good for you.

I can't guarnatee it will help you, but it has certainly helped me and you seem in a similar positon. Go take a look at SitePoint Best of luck!

[jor133d]

way ahead of you. I bought it in summer but just havent got around to reading the whole thing yet.

[Onyx]

Well read it - damn it!

I'm reading a bit each night. Like I said - it's no magic solution, but you're buying experience that would take a long time to learn the hard way. There a re a few chapters that really would help with the things you mention above. Make time to read it and think of it as an investment!

[focusben]

Originally posted by jor133d
way ahead of you. I bought it in summer but just havent got around to reading the whole thing yet.

Actually, you're way behind him!! He's read the book and you haven't - so what does that tell you??

I'm reminded of the story of how a person bought an excercise bike but didn't ride it. He didn't lose weight but blamed it on the bike. There was nothing wrong with the bike. Something wrong with rider.

[jor133d]

Well I have read about 6 chapters.. I brang it to school and read it when I get time in my independent study class. That swhy I havent gotten that far

[insomnia]

Hey there,

Let me tell you, I've also been in the design field and trust me, "companies" whether they be web design or hosting being run by 16 year olds just never seem to work out. They usually crumble before they can get themselves off the ground.

I suggest you keep it freelance.
Thats how I do it

[JaysonH]

Jordan,

Dont let your age put you down. DriveWisconsin.com is an excellent design, have you ever thought of finding sponsors for the site to pay for the marketing?

If I hadnt just spent $10k on my recent project, I would deff sponsor or market your site for you.

Hope everything works out for you.

Jayson.

[jor133d]

I never thought of it because again its back to my age. Who wants to sponsor a 16 year. They wont want to spend money on me because they probably think that I will fail.

How do I find sponsors?

Also thanks for the offer Jayson! Keep me in mind in the future.

[iContinuity]

Jordan,

One way to gain exposure is to submit your site to leading search engines. There are many flavors of search engine submission. Of which, unfortunately there are alot of scams. The true and tested method to consider is manual submission.

Manual submission is just one of the many ways to make a mark in the specific business category you are in.

One website that you, or anyone else for that matter should truly consider submitting to is dmoz.org. Dmoz.org is human edited however it feeds Google.com, MSN.com, AOL.com, Yahoo.com among others.

Prior to submitting your website, you should optimize your website. For tips, an excellent resource to consider is searchenginewatch.com.

Seeing as how you specialize in web design/development, you should make it a point to learn search engine optimization and search engine placement.

Building a website for yourself or a company for that matter is very much like opening up a retail store front. Would you want to open shop in the middle of the woods? Of course not ... you would want to be on Main Street, the biggest mall, somewhere that there are alot of people. In short, you would want to have the most visibility.

By submitting your site, or the site of your clients to search engines ... you increase visibility.

How often have you Googled a topic? Say "Upcoming XBox games"? There are thousands of hits. Just imagine if you were on the top 10 or 20 of those search engine results ... you wouldn't be worrying so much about visibility. You would worry more about hiring more people to answer your phone.

There are many approaches to gaining visibility however, in light of the fact that you design web pages. Once you master this technique for yourself, you can then resell your expertise to other businesses.

That is perhaps just one truly effective way to getting your message out there. Furthermore, it's a win win ... for you and for your customers.

Hope this helps!

Jay
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iContinuity