Real world talk about web design, programming and the business of web design.
One of the Web’s most popular places to get an idea of a web site’s traffic is Alexa.com.
There is one major problem though: Alexa is not accurate at all.
Alexa gets a lot of it’s traffic data from its’ Alexa toolbar and other nebulous source they don’t identify. So that leads me to think that they still get most of their data from the toolbar.
Sounds OK, except for one glaring problem - who uses the Alexa toolbar?
A common question I get from people, is whether it makes sense to go to college to learn web design?
I’ve talked about the web design profession in other articles. Yet, as you will see in the following email I recently got, I haven’t dealt with all the issues regarding web design and education:
Hi Stefan,
Anyway, I am interested in web design. I am in the middle of trying to figure out whether I should go to my local community colleges for courses in HTML, photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc … or an actual art school for graphic art/ web design. Of course cost is a factor.
I am a mother of two, and my work schedule needs to be flexible. I am very creative and have a great eye for design.
My question is, which course of action you recommend? How much education is necessary? Is a degree necessary, if so, what type? associate, bachelors, certificate?
What are the salary potentials in web design working for yourself and for outside companies (I have research outside company positions advertising 40k - 50k, is that realistic?)
I’m not young, (a youthful 44) and I really need to do something in the form of a career for myself, other than taking care of everyone else.
Thank you so much for your time-
Sandy
Recently someone asked me a bunch of questions related to getting their first web design job as an independent contractor - and so I figured an article was a good idea.
Tim asked:
Stefan,
With me being a newbie in the web design business, I have some questions. Long story short, I was talking with my friends wife one day and mentioned to her that I had thought about doing some web design on the side to make some extra money.
I live in a small town, with a lot of small businesses and I figure these businesses would have a use for a simple web site to help promote their business.
… So I’m thinking this would be something I could start within the next year or so, … two days ago I receive a call from my friends wife and she asks if I’m interested in doing a web site for her brother, who is a dentist in our town.
So, I say sure and she tells me that he will probably contact me soon to set up a meeting to discuss.
Now, this is great but I haven’t got a clue where to start. Hers’s my thought:
1. Meet with the client to discuss the site. How many pages, the content, etc. Maybe show some of my work.
2. Take the info from the meeting and come up with a quote.
3. Present my idea’s and the quote.
4. If he agree’s and accepts the quote, draw up a contract for him to sign.
Hi,
As some of you may know, I’ve been slowly working on a new set of video tutorials that teachs you how to start and run a small web design business.
You can find the videos posted here:
Business of Web Design video tutorial
I have had a few request for more details, so I decided to release a PDF document that outlines the videos. This is still a work in progress … any comments would be appreciated.
PDF: business-of-web-design-project-plan.pdf
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
Hi,
I just released my second video for the Business of Web Design course:
Business of Web Design: Hardware and Software
It is about 14 minutes and it covers the basics on what hardware and software you need to start a web design business. Along the way, I discus a few basic business concepts that are crucial to any small business.
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I am also archiving the videos at www.studioweb.com
Thanks,
Stefan
