designer of the web » proposals http://designeroftheweb.com I figure I learn something new everyday, might as well post it somewhere! Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:18:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Freelance Presentation http://designeroftheweb.com/2009/10/presentation-for-web-design-students/ http://designeroftheweb.com/2009/10/presentation-for-web-design-students/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:28:45 +0000 Erica http://designeroftheweb.com/?p=68 Presentation for AIPI spoke to a group of Web students tonight at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh about Freelancing. I wanted to try to be as informative as possible and present as many resources as possible.

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Text Version (sorry powerpoint exports badly)

Working for Yourself as a Web Designer
Why, How, When… and all that jazz.
About Me

What Were Talkin’ About

  • Freelance Pros and Cons
  • What would help you get started
  • Generating Leads
  • The Freelance Process

The Pros of Freelancing

  • Work From Anywhere in the World
  • Set Your Own Rate
  • Somewhat Flexible Hours
  • Variety of Projects (Reject the Rejects)
  • Reduced Transportation Costs
  • Tax Write Offs

The Cons of Freelancing

  • You really aren’t your own boss, You have many bosses, and they all want something the same day
  • Time Management
  • Self-Discipline (Focus)
  • Lack of Financial Security
  • Accounting and Taxes
  • No Health Benefits (buy your own)

Getting Started

  • Choose a name
  • Make yourself a site
  • Create a Proposal / Quote / Contract template document and USE IT.
  • Choose Your Rate
  • Create an Invoice Template or set-up an account for invoicing

What’s in a Name?

  • Use your own name
    (Does not need Registered and can use your social security as a Tax ID or EIN.)
  • Create a Fictitious Business Name ($70.00) and get a Tax ID (EIN) so you can open a Business Checking.

Fic Name Requirements (PA): http://www.dos.state.pa.us/corps/cwp/view.asp?a=1093&q=431168

Fic Name Registration (PA): http://www.dos.state.pa.us/corps/lib/corps/20/7/311.pdf

Other States: http://www.business.gov/register/business-name/dba.html

Tax ID Registration: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html

Doing Business In PA Web Site >>>

NOTE: I wanted to elaborate on naming your business for any students who might stop by.. @JessProgresses made a great point to me – using your own name for your business will build recognition of you in the industry.

I said while presenting that my personal preference is to create a fic name cause i feel it’s catchier, but it really is personal preference!

Get A Portfolio or Business Site

  • People will argue its not needed.
  • Makes landing clients easier
  • If your skills are not where you would like them to be as designer, use a template for yourself and your clients. Also consider a content management system (CMS) like Joomla or Wordpress.
  • Include links to your work, or screen shots, or even just information for now. It makes you look much more serious.

Get A Proposal Template

  • Sample Project Proposal HERE.
  • Very simple, Not sure how it would hold up in court (even though I believe it would!) so please use update and details for each project.

Choose Your Rate

  • OR Choose how many hours you would like to work per week on freelance and how much you would like to make from freelance per week. – Remember if you think a project will take 12 hours… it’ll take 24!

    • Invoice Them

    • AIP – Renee McCafferty<
    • 5th quarter or above with a minimum 2.5 GPA

    Finding Clients

    The Process

    • 1 . Find Client
    • 2 . Meet / Speak with Client to find out the scope of the project. You need to know exactly what they want – how they want it to look, how they want it to function, what their goals are. EXHAUST all questions.
    • 3 . Do brief competitive review to discover ways that your client can excel over the competition.
    • 4 . Create your Proposal / Be as detailed as possible with EVERYTHING. – get approval
    • 5 . Create Screen Shots and Wire Frames – get approval
    • 6 . Break it out – make it function. Give the client a test site to visit while they wait for the magic.
    • 7 . Test and Revise x 1000
    • 8 . Deliver Project & Promote if applicable
    • 9 . Invoice

    Blog Posts:

    Web Design From Scratch

    The Web Design Process

    Evaluate Your Process and Results

    AWESOME FREELANCE BLOGS:

    FreelanceSwitch.com (with awesome podcast!)

    FreelanceFolder.com

    THE END

    Thank You!

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