If you had to do it all over again?

[AnthonyJ]

First, I want to extend a heart-felt thank you to all the admins and moderators for their time and devotion to the Killer sites forum. THANK YOU!!!

That said, when you were starting out, if you had to do it all over again, what would you change? Where would you have altered your course to get you, as a freelancer, more profitable?

Edited August 7, 2011 by AnthonyJ

[builtbybison]

To do some sales training first then I would be able to sell not only my work but myself better

[falkencreative]

Project management skills/time management skills. Definitely areas I can always be improving on.

[AnthonyJ]

Seriously?!?

You would not consider your skill set above your market perception?

Then perhaps I can help,I can market my-self. Selling a service is easy "if you believe in the product". My problem is that I do not believe in the product that I have. That is why I am here to learn these skills, of web design and development. Time management is one thing but sales is another, I say this to you builtbybison, as helpful criticism, I am not trying to ruffle your feathers but I will encourage you to fly. If you do not believe in yourself nobody else will either.

Edited August 7, 2011 by AnthonyJ

[falkencreative]

At least in my experience, sales is a bit more involved than just "believing in yourself." Yes, that's part of it, but there's definitely a lot more to it than that.

 

I think what @builtbybison was getting at is that there's a lot more to running a freelance business than just having design/coding skills. A lot of beginners approach web design with the idea that if they learn web design, jobs will magically appear. In many cases, it doesn't work that way, and an understanding of sales/marketing is definitely helpful. It's easy for many beginners to overlook the business side of running a business -- dealing with taxes, time management, client/project management, etc. Having a web/design skillset is only part of the battle; one can be a great designer or developer, but still be a horrible business person.

[Peep]

At least in my experience, sales is a bit more involved than just "believing in yourself." Yes, that's part of it, but there's definitely a lot more to it than that.

 

Completely agree. Just as important I think is the ability to communicate with the customer and establish their needs. This is not easy, since they are unlikely to be knowledgable about web design or programming - and consequently will not know what is and what is not possible, and therefore will struggle to give you an exact specification. The ability to assess what features may be of benefit to a client would give you the opportunity to sell.

[AnthonyJ]

I read you, my apologies...