Web design is an easy field to get into. You might well start out by teaching yourself a few tricks in order to build a personal web page, and before you know it you’re helping friends, relatives, and business associates get themselves online. As your skills grow, so does the temptation to turn web design into a paying business. Here are some smart choices you should make if you want to go for it.
Once you hang out your shingle as a web designer, you need to be prepared to make a highly professional impression at short notice. You never know where your next client might come from. You should be capable of speaking knowledgeably about web design if it comes up during social occasions. Demonstrating some real expertise with the field and following it up with a business card goes a long way towards bringing in a potential client.
When you schedule a formal meeting with someone who’s interested in hiring you, pull out all the stops when it comes to professionalism. Dress in business attire. Know your facts cold – not only the details of your business, but also as much as you can learn about your potential client’s. Have a schedule of your different services worked up ahead of time and a firm price ready for each one. You have a lot of competition in the web design business, but you can give yourself a strong advantage simply by behaving like a professional.
If you’re presenting yourself as a reliable, professional web designer, it’s very important to live up to that impression by coming through on your promises. If you intend to keep the clients that you land, you need to provide them with the best service that you can in the most timely fashion possible. It can really help justify your fees to your clients if you make satisfying them your top priority.
One way to impress your clients is to provide service that exceeds the expectations they have when you sign a contract. If you discover a new procedure or feature that would improve their current website, consider telling them about it and offering to set it up for them free of charge. Not only will this build a lot of goodwill between you and your client, it also gives you an extra opportunity to practice your web design skills.
To advance in the field of web design (and even to maintain your current position), you have to keep your skills sharp and up-to-date. Set aside a decent block of time in your schedule and devote it expressly to cultivating new design skills and refining your current ones. Keeping abreast of industry news is also part of your skill-maintaining task, so you’ll want to frequently check in with websites and forums devoted to web design.
There is a huge difference between playing around with web design for fun and trying to make a decent living at it. For the unprepared, the challenge of moving between the two can often be overwhelming. You’ve greatly improved your odds of weathering the change, though, by starting to educate yourself on the subject. You’ll have a better idea of what to expect and be better prepared for your new career.