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Does it matter where you live?


grabenair

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I just got done reading a post by a new member wanting a list of webdesign companies where they live. Also a while back I read a post that says something like, I am having a hard time finding business where I live. I live in a small town. Anyway something to that effect. You have to remember what www stands for, a reminder world wide web. This means that you should not be limited to clients by where you live.

 

Yes a face to face meeting with a client is nice but not at all necessary. I have had clients that were clear on the other side of the world, and yes I do not make enough cash to go see them. I have had clients only a few hundred miles away and still never saw them once. How did I do it? First I put a portfolio site on the www. Then I get phone calls or an email from people looking for a web site. That is all there is to it. Well not all. It takes a lot of time, so do not give up.

 

There are also tools out there such as Skype. Now you can have a face to face, well close enough anyway. You can even do it on your phone if you have a forward facing camera. Just like star trek. Which I think is super awesome. Some times I video call my wife when I am walking the dog, just because it is cool.

 

So my point is do not give up just because you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Believe me I can relate. I live in the middle of a corn field. When you have your skills down and a portfolio site up with a couple of sites that you built. Does not have to be sites from a client. The sites in your portfolio site can be something you made up. Just remember not to put a fake phone number on them or selling something. You can put a fake email address on the site to contact you. Just remember in the code to have it go to you and not nowhere.

 

Now that you have that done it is time to go and find work. My method, Google for web design companies. Start calling them and ask them for there HR department. If they do not have one they will tell you. Once you get the person on the phone that does the hiring, ask them if they hire contractors. If they do they will start asking you questions. Companies want to see your design and code. Do not start talking to them about the schooling you have had. I found that 99.9% do not care. Again they want to see code and design. Just answer the questions they ask, do not start volunteering info you could say the wrong thing. They know what they are looking for.

 

Well that is my thoughts on the whole thing, hope I did not make to many people mad. This was not my intention.

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I agree, I don't think it matters at all - maybe to a few clients who have to have the face-time, but not in general.

 

Actually, the post you're referring to looks like a call for Spam to me, especially since the username contains the region he is asking about. Besides, unless their Google is broken, it's a pretty stupid question to post.

I just figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt - if 'someone' (usually the OP under a different username) comes along with a list,or even just one webdesigner, I'll zap them then.

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There is an aspect of better 'workability' when a client lives in range of face-to-face communication... I've done websites for a couple people whose former webmasters up and left leaving me to pick up the scattered pieces of their Hosting logins, FTPs, etc. We had to hunt one down by the address posted for the domain administrator on who.is

 

But the way 'communication' is going and has gone I'd certainly say that distance is not a limiting factor for getting the job done, only that distance allows for some folks to run and hide leaving customers hanging on a limb.

 

But you can't beat face-to-face consultation... It's a natural thing. Person to person, having a conversation about what you need

 

Just my experience.

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  • 2 months later...

I don't think it really matters with the broad scope and massive audience and customers available directly through web and the varied and powerful tools present, you can start with your website designing business from where you currently are. What matters is your creativity, design ideas and some design portfolios.

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