When clients seek a website redesign, they don’t always know what they want. They know they want a different look, new structure or revised copy, but they may have trouble pinpointing their specific needs. By asking clients some basic questions about their motivations and goals for the redesign before creating a proposal, you’ll enhance communication and understanding so you can develop a clear picture of what the individual truly wants.

Website Redesign Questions to Ask

Tell me about your organization in a few sentences. This request gives you a snapshot of what the organization does.

What would happen if your current site stays the same? This question helps a client pinpoint the items on the site that do not work. For example, the website may not be easy to use on mobile browsers.

What sets your organization (or background) apart from your competitors? Why would new customers seek you? This inquiry helps create a focus for the website redesign and ensures the new site will enhance the client’s professional credibility. Instead of declaring that the organization offers the “best service in the area,” which is too general, the redesign can emphasize the client’s years of experience in the industry or excellent customer retention rates.

What problems does your organization solve? In today’s marketing world, consumers aren’t interested in simply hearing about how great a company is. They focus on the solutions and experiences a company offers.

Why do you think website visitors should do business with you and not your competitor? When a search engine’s results yield multiple pages of competitors offering the same services or products, it’s important to have a website that highlights what makes the organization memorable.

Who is your target customer? Who do you hope to attract with your website redesign? Please offer details about your target’s geographic location, age, gender, interests, income, family status and so on. This question helps you gain a better understanding of the client’s expectations. Keep in mind that the redesign should be geared toward attracting the target customer – not necessarily the client.

What is your budget? This inquiry tells you a lot about a prospective client. Good clients are individuals who are willing to pay the price for good work. If a client doesn’t know how to answer this question, he or she maybe hasn’t thought about it or just doesn’t really know what a redesign realistically costs.

Are you the decision-maker for this project? How quickly do you plan to make decisions? Hopefully you’re already dealing with a decision-maker who will be able to get back to you within a day or two regarding decisions. Otherwise, long turnaround times can drag out the project. This is also a good time to ask if you’ll be working with other staff members.

What is your expected deadline? The answer to this question can give you a picture of the scope of the project. Follow up by asking if the client has a specific reason for the target deadline, such as a re-branding, trade show or other publicity event.

List three to five sites you like, and tell me why you like them. The websites listed will indicate the client’s preferences with regard to looks, organization and copy.

Have you checked out your competitors’ websites? What do you like or dislike about them? A competitor’s site is a great place to learn trade secrets and find great ideas.

What things do you not want in a redesign? Asking this question in advance can help save time.

Who is writing the web copy? Is the copy ready for the redesign? If you aren’t providing the web copy, you’ll need to coordinate with the person who is.

Do you plan to sell items online? If so, what are the items, how many do you plan to sell and what forms of payment will you accept? This question will help you determine if your client needs an e-commerce strategy for the site.

What technologies do you want to integrate into the redesign? Find out whether the client expects to use any third-party tools such as a loan application, client login area or secure document shelf. This is the time to catch any potential opportunities for adding functionality.

What five keywords are most important for your site? This question will help you develop appropriate SEO-related codes and tags.

How do you want to encourage repeat website visitors and referrals? When a client answers this question, you’ll learn whether he or she plans to use social media, a blog, whitepapers, referral incentives or e-newsletters.

Goal Defining

Use the completed questionnaire and work with the client to analyze the information provided and come up with a set of goals for the site’s redesign. To help the client define his or her goals, you may need to conduct an analysis of comparable websites and a traffic analysis of the current site, as well as define customer personas and conduct customer interviews.

Once the client defines the goals, create a comprehensive plan that shows how you intend to achieve them. While long questionnaires and analyses seem time-consuming, the information you glean will help you communicate better with your client so you can make his or her website redesign wishes come to fruition.

About the Author:

This post is courtesy of Cameron Madill, CEO of PixelSpoke, a Portland, Oregon based agency specializing in website redesigns and digital marketing strategies.

When clients seek a website redesign, they don’t always know what they want. They know they want a different look, new structure or revised copy, but they may have trouble pinpointing their specific needs. By asking clients some basic questions about their motivations and goals for the redesign before creating a proposal, you’ll enhance communication and understanding so you can develop a clear picture of what the individual truly wants.

Website Redesign Questions to Ask

Tell me about your organization in a few sentences. This request gives you a snapshot of what the organization does.

What would happen if your current site stays the same? This question helps a client pinpoint the items on the site that do not work. For example, the website may not be easy to use on mobile browsers.

What sets your organization (or background) apart from your competitors? Why would new customers seek you? This inquiry helps create a focus for the website redesign and ensures the new site will enhance the client’s professional credibility. Instead of declaring that the organization offers the “best service in the area,” which is too general, the redesign can emphasize the client’s years of experience in the industry or excellent customer retention rates.

What problems does your organization solve? In today’s marketing world, consumers aren’t interested in simply hearing about how great a company is. They focus on the solutions and experiences a company offers.

Why do you think website visitors should do business with you and not your competitor? When a search engine’s results yield multiple pages of competitors offering the same services or products, it’s important to have a website that highlights what makes the organization memorable.

Who is your target customer? Who do you hope to attract with your website redesign? Please offer details about your target’s geographic location, age, gender, interests, income, family status and so on. This question helps you gain a better understanding of the client’s expectations. Keep in mind that the redesign should be geared toward attracting the target customer – not necessarily the client.

What is your budget? This inquiry tells you a lot about a prospective client. Good clients are individuals who are willing to pay the price for good work. If a client doesn’t know how to answer this question, he or she maybe hasn’t thought about it or just doesn’t really know what a redesign realistically costs.

Are you the decision-maker for this project? How quickly do you plan to make decisions? Hopefully you’re already dealing with a decision-maker who will be able to get back to you within a day or two regarding decisions. Otherwise, long turnaround times can drag out the project. This is also a good time to ask if you’ll be working with other staff members.

What is your expected deadline? The answer to this question can give you a picture of the scope of the project. Follow up by asking if the client has a specific reason for the target deadline, such as a re-branding, trade show or other publicity event.

List three to five sites you like, and tell me why you like them. The websites listed will indicate the client’s preferences with regard to looks, organization and copy.

Have you checked out your competitors’ websites? What do you like or dislike about them? A competitor’s site is a great place to learn trade secrets and find great ideas.

What things do you not want in a redesign? Asking this question in advance can help save time.

Who is writing the web copy? Is the copy ready for the redesign? If you aren’t providing the web copy, you’ll need to coordinate with the person who is.

Do you plan to sell items online? If so, what are the items, how many do you plan to sell and what forms of payment will you accept? This question will help you determine if your client needs an e-commerce strategy for the site.

What technologies do you want to integrate into the redesign? Find out whether the client expects to use any third-party tools such as a loan application, client login area or secure document shelf. This is the time to catch any potential opportunities for adding functionality.

What five keywords are most important for your site? This question will help you develop appropriate SEO-related codes and tags.

How do you want to encourage repeat website visitors and referrals? When a client answers this question, you’ll learn whether he or she plans to use social media, a blog, whitepapers, referral incentives or e-newsletters.

Goal Defining

Use the completed questionnaire and work with the client to analyze the information provided and come up with a set of goals for the site’s redesign. To help the client define his or her goals, you may need to conduct an analysis of comparable websites and a traffic analysis of the current site, as well as define customer personas and conduct customer interviews.

Once the client defines the goals, create a comprehensive plan that shows how you intend to achieve them. While long questionnaires and analyses seem time-consuming, the information you glean will help you communicate better with your client so you can make his or her website redesign wishes come to fruition.

About the Author:

This post is courtesy of Cameron Madill, CEO of PixelSpoke, a Portland, Oregon based agency specializing in website redesigns and digital marketing strategies.

Having access to the right tools can increase productivity and efficiency for freelancers. There are a number of iPhone and iPad apps that can be used by freelance designers for various purposes to help with their work in one way or another. In this article we’ll highlight 25 apps that can prove to be extremely useful for freelancers. They involve a variety of different aspects of a freelance designers work, including time tracking, invoicing, productivity, designing, wireframes, contact management, and more.

MyPrice (free)

If you are like most freelancers pricing your services is one of the biggest challenges that you face. MyPrice can help by calculating hourly or project-based prices based on information like the client, location, your education, your experience, and more.

WorldCard Mobile ($6.99)

With WorldCard Mobile you can scan business cards and sync with your Google contacts. You’ll never have to worry about misplacing a business card or holding on to a stack of other people’s cards.

Freewallet ($0.99)

Freewallet was created specifically to help freelancers manage their income. You can see statistics about your income as well as details about specific projects.

FreshBooks (free)

If you use FreshBooks for your invoicing and accounting you can benefit from their iPhone and iPad apps. Track your time, manage expenses, create invoice and more while on the go.

Ronin (free)

Ronin is another popular invoicing web app that also provides a free iPhone and iPad app.

Billings Touch (free)

Billings also offers time tracking and invoicing from your iPhone or iPad.

Harvest (free)

Harvest users can take advantage of the free iPhone app for time tracking and expense recording. You can take photos of receipts and store them digitally to go paperless.

HoursTracker (free)

With HoursTracker you can use your iPhone like a timecard to track your time. It provides a series of reports, and you can even email the data to your desktop if you’d like. A free version is available, and the full version costs $4.99.

Headquarters (free)

If you use Basecamp for project management you will want to check out the Headquarters app. With the free app you can manage one account and one project. With the Pro app ($4.99) you can manage unlimited accounts and unlimited projects.

Dropbox (free)

Dropbox users can take advantage of this free app for accessing files, videos, and photos on your iPhone of iPad.

FTP on the Go ($4.99)

Being away from your desktop doesn’t mean that you can’t have FTP access. FTP on the Go is a simple FTP client for iPhone and iPad users.

Paymo (free )

With the free Paymo app you can easily track your time from your iPhone or iPad.

AwesomeNote ($3.99)

AwesomeNote is a powerful app that lets you take notes, track to-do lists, manage a calendar and events, and much more. You can sync it with Google Docs and Evernote.

2Do ($9.99)

2Do is a powerful productivity app that includes to-do lists, calendars, project management, and more. It supports iCloud and Dropbox and features a UI that makes it very easy to use.

Calendars by Readdle ($6.99)

Calendars by Readdle integrates with Google Calendar and the default iOS calendar. It features a simple and stylish user interface and includes many event management features.

iTeleport VNC & RDP ($24.99)

If you need to be able to access your computer remotely, this is the app for you. It supports both Windows and Mac computers.

Noteshelf ($5.99)

Noteshelf for iPad is an app for taking and organizing notes. You can write with your finger, a stylus, or a smart pen. There are more than 70 templates available to use for your notes.

Portfolio for iPad ($14.99)

If you meet with clients in person you may benefit from having your portfolio on your iPad. This app helps you to create a beautiful portfolio that can be personalized and customized.

Adobe Photoshop Touch ($9.99)

This iPad app includes many of Photoshop’s core features for use on your tablet.

Paper (free)

Paper is an awesome drawing app that includes tools to draw, sketch, outine, color, and write. The app itself is free and you can purchase additional tools from inside the app.

SketchyPad ($4.99)

Turn your iPad into a sketch pad with SketchyPad. It is useful for creating wireframes and mockups, and it even integrates with Balsamiq.

Jot! Whiteboard ($4.99)

Jot! is a simple whiteboard that lets you sketch out your ideas and share them in real time.

OmniGraffle ($49.99)

OmniGraffle allows you to design and draw wireframes, page layouts, process charts, and diagrams on your iPad.

iMockups ($6.99)

Create website and app mockups right from your iPad with iMockups.

TouchDraw ($8.99)

TouchDraw is a vector drawing application for creating flow charts, graphs, diagrams, illustrations, logos and more.

Are you considering selling your website and want to know how much you may be able to get for it when you sell?

Perhaps someone has made an offer for your website, or you have just lost passion for the website itself or the market your involved in. Or it could be that you’re just happy to cash out and do something else with your money.

Whatever your motivation you need to know how to value your website and come up with what it’s worth before selling so you don’t get ripped off and leave money on the table.

Why Do Websites Have Value?

But before we get into the nitty gritty of valuation formulas and multiples, lets canvas why websites have value in the first place.

Value by terms of definition is the monetary worth of something. The reason that a website has value is because a potential buyer can make a profit from it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Buyers are solely motivated by return on investment, so anyone out there thinking “but my website has so much potential” strike those thoughts from your vocabulary. Normally what you think your website is worth and what someone is willing to pay for it are two completely different things.

Some website owners and bloggers struggle with the idea that just because you’ve put all this effort into creating content and doing SEO, your website inherently has value. I’m sorry to tell you this, but in terms of valuation 1 + 1 doesn’t equal 2. All the assets of your website (your domain, content, marketing, SEO, systems) are designed to create profit and it is that profit that buyers base their calculations on.

What Is Value In The Eyes Of Website Buyers

Website buyers typically pay a multiple of earnings for a website. That is they pay a multiplication of how much net profit the website makes per year.
For example if your website makes $100,000 per year. A buyer may adopt an earnings multiple of 1.5X thus they will offer you $150,000 for the website.
Generally the higher the risk the website holds, the lower the multiple they will offer.

Below is a list of items that will lower the risk of a website and thus attract a higher multiple offer from buyers:

• Increasing growth
• Stable earnings
• Automated systems
• Diversified traffic streams
• Diversified income streams
• Unique Selling Position

Valuations Methods

There are a few different types of valuation methods that buyers will use to value your website.

1. Revenue Multiple – You have most probably heard the statistic that most businesses sell for 2-3 times earnings. Basically a buyer will take the current net profit of the website for the past twelve months and then multiply it with an earnings multiplier to get a final valuation figure.

2. Comparable Sales – Buyers will use this method if there is sales data available for similar websites. They will then adopt a similar valuation and make an offer based off that.

3. Asset Value – sometimes buyers will ignore the revenue of a website and instead look at the assets of the site (the customer list, or email database) and make a calculation on that instead. They do this because they may be able to leverage those assets better than the existing owner with a new product or making alterations to the system etc.

How To Determine What Your Website Is Worth

So now that you have the perspective of buyers you can then calculate the value of your website.

Remember a valuation is just an estimate of what a likely buyer will pay. At the end of the deal the real value of your website is what is sitting in your bank account once you’ve closed the deal.

First you need to determine your net profit. You calculate this by taking your total sales/earnings and then subtract all your expenses from that figure, which will give you your net profit. Do this for the last twelve months earnings, known as trailing twelve months earnings (TTM).

Then you need to apply a multiplier to your TTM earnings.

Generally newer sites will sell for 1-1.5X earnings. More established sites 1.5-2.5X earnings. And high risk sites 0.5-1X earnings. Websites can sell for out of those ranges however they are normally an exception to the rule.

This data is based off over $1,000,000 worth of transactions over the past few years.

About the Author:

Jock Purtle is a website broker for brokercorp.com. He is the author of the ultimate website selling guide.

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When it comes to the skills and characteristics that are essential to having success as a freelancer designer, the most obvious ones involve creative skills and the ability to design. While this is of course important, there is far more to achieving success as a freelancer than simply being able to design. In fact, the non-creative skills and characteristics are sometimes the most important since they often have a profound impact on the experience for clients.

In this article we’ll take a quick look at 5 skills and characteristics that you should be aware of if you are currently freelancing or planning to make the jump. You won’t necessarily need to be an expert in these areas prior to getting started as a freelancer. In most cases, with some effort and attention these are things that pretty much anyone can do. With time you can even improve your abilities in some areas that you may consider to be weaknesses.

1. Communication

Communication is a critical skill for freelancers. You’ll need to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently with clients throughout the design process. Your ability to communicate will impact 1) your understanding of the client and the needs/wants of the project, 2) your ability to share your vision for the project and to secure the work, and 3) your ability to explain things clearly to clients.

Each designer has a different process for communicating with clients. Some use the phone or Skype to get familiar with the project. Others prefer email throughout the process. Some designers have an intake process that they use with each client, and others use a different approach for each project. What’s important is that you find an approach that works well for you and your clients.

2. Organization

One area that many new freelance designers struggle with is organization. If you’ve worked as part of a team before, you probably were only responsible for certain aspects of working with clients, and you probably had little to no responsibility for running the business. As a freelancer you’ll wear many hats, and this requires outstanding organization. Many new freelancers underestimate the importance of organization. and the scope of responsibility can be a big shock.

As a freelancer you’ll have to handle marketing, sales, finances and bookkeeping, customer service, management of any outsourced work, plus the actual design/development work. All of these other responsibilities will reduce the amount of time and effort that you’re able to dedicate to doing the design/development work that brings in revenue. So the more organized you can be, the less time you will need to dedicate to each area, and the more time you can spend doing the actual design/development work.

Your organization skills can also have a big impact on your clients and the experience they have working with you. They’re not really concerned with all of the different responsibilities that you have by running your own freelance business. They just want you to manage their project in an organized manner.

3. Reliability

One of the reasons that some clients prefer to work with a design agency rather than a freelancer is the issue (or in some cases, the perceived issue) of reliability. Freelancers often have a stigma of being unreliable. No client wants to start working with a designer only to have them prove to be undependable. You can help to demonstrate your reliability by communicating effectively and promptly with potential clients from the start. Clients often start to question the reliability of freelancers when they don’t get a response or a proposal promptly. If you present yourself professionally and respond promptly to potential clients it can go along way towards easing any fears about your reliability.

4. Discipline

Many people have the idea that freelancers sit around the house most of the day and work whenever they feel like it. Of course, this isn’t the case with successful freelancers who have have put in a lot of effort to build up their client work. But as a freelancer you’ll have no boss looking over your shoulder telling you what to work on, and you’ll have no one to tell you what time to start work and what time to stop. Being a successful freelancer requires a lot of discipline. Since most freelancers work from home, there are plenty of potential distractions that you will need to avoid.

5. Assertiveness

As an independent worker, your success rests on your own shoulders. For this reason, freelancers often need to be pro active, aggressive, or assertive. If you’ve been working as an in-house designer or as an employee for a design agency, you probably are used to having projects assigned to you. As a freelancer you will need to find the work. Some freelancers are fortunate to have most or all of the clients coming directly to them, but it usually takes some time to get to that point. Many freelancers will need to be more assertive when it comes to finding clients. This could involve marketing efforts, networking, pursuing referrals, social media, or even cold calling.

Freelancers also need to be assertive when it comes to problem solving. When you’re working as part of a team, the responsibility to solve every problem and overcome every challenge will not be only on you. However, as a freelance you’ll need to be pro active at finding solutions and working through challenges

What’s Your Opinion?

What skills and characteristics do you think are most critical for freelancers? Feel free to share from your own experience in the comments.

A common challenge that most freelancer web designers face is the fact that many people, businesses, and organizations are working with very limited budgets. There are a lot of freelancers out there that have no trouble finding potential clients who would be interested in their services, but finding clients who are willing and able to pay a reasonable price for a professional website can be much more difficult.

The freelancer then faces the dilemma of passing up a potential client or trying to accommodate the low budget. As all designers learn very quickly, a low budget project doesn’t always mean that it will be easy or that the client will have reasonable expectations about what they can get for their money.

Many designers choose to pass on lower budget clients, and if you’re able to stay busy with more profitable projects it only makes sense to focus your time on those projects.

The problem is that many freelance designers don’t have the luxury of turning away a low-budget project in favor of one that will pay a little more. For many designers the low-budget projects may be necessary in order to stay busy and to stay in business.

If you’ve been in the frustrating situation of trying to make a low-budget project a profitable use of your time, the good news is that there are some options.

Small budget projects aren’t for everyone, and if you’re doing fine with your current strategy than by all means, keep doing what you are doing. But for those freelancers who are just getting started or those who need to make low-budget projects work, these tips can help.

1. Use Website Templates/Themes

There are thousands upon thousands of website templates and themes available for download or purchase. This includes static HTML/CSS templates, WordPress themes, e-commerce templates, and other options for all different kinds of websites. The benefit to users, of course, is that a template can save the client hundreds or thousands of dollars when compared to the cost of getting a custom website. The main challenges for clients are 1) most of them would still need help to set up a template, and 2) they usually aren’t aware of the templates that are available, or which ones are better than others.

The quality of templates and themes will certainly vary greatly, but in recent years the high level of competition and the huge potential profit for template/theme developers has led to an increase in the quality of the better options out there. Premium WordPress themes are especially popular, and the quality of a good theme from today’s market would make a good premium theme from just a few years ago look like a free theme.

A growing number of designers seem to be offering their services to either set up or customize templates/themes for clients with small budgets. This can be a great way to accommodate these clients as they can still get a quality website, help from a designer to set up the site, and without the cost of a full custom design.

If you offer your services for setting up templates and themes for clients you will probably also have to be willing to help them find an appropriate template. Some clients may come to you with a specific template or theme in mind, but in most cases they’ll probably tell you what they want from their website, and you’ll need to find a template or theme that will work. You could charge an hourly rate or a flat fee for your work to find and set up a template.

2. Create Your Own Templates/Themes

Another option is to create your own templates or themes to use with clients. You could set up a shop on your site to sell the products, or you could offer them only to clients as they contact you about their projects. Having your own templates will also make customizations easier because you’ll be more familiar with how the theme is coded.

This is especially a good approach if you find that you have a lot of potential clients that are looking for websites that are similar in some way. For example, for several years we’ve received a lot of requests from churches and non-profit organizations in need of a website. Of course, most of them are working with very limited budgets. We eventually decided to create a few WordPress themes specifically for churches and non-profits. In our case we offer them for free download because some of our blog readers also have an interest in them. Another designer could do something similar by creating a few WordPress themes for clients in a specific industry, but instead of releasing them for free you could use them to keep costs down for clients with small budgets.

3. Offer Semi-Custom Design

Templates and themes are a good option for clients with very limited budgets, but almost every client will want or need something from their website that doesn’t fit perfectly with any template out there. It could be a customization of the template’s color scheme, layout changes, or some added functionality. In these cases templates may not work, but a full custom design isn’t always needed.

You could design and code templates or a framework that can be used as a starting point, and then make needed customizations to meet the client’s needs. This would still reduce the amount of time needed for the project, thus reducing the price that you would need to charge. It would still give the client a site that feels more like a custom website that was built especially for them. This can be a good option for clients whose budgets are little low for the site that they need, but large enough to give you something to work with.

4. Limit the Scope of Your Services, and Present Options

The problem with low budget projects usually isn’t entirely about the money. It’s also about what the client needs or wants to get for that budget. If you’re able to work with the client to reduce the “must have’s” of their project you may be able to give them a basic website that will fit within their budget.

One of the best ways to do this is to present some options. Give them an estimate for a website that will include everything they are looking for, and also a proposal for a website that will fit within their budget. If their budget and wish list don’t match up, the first quote will be much more than they want to spend, but the second option can show that you are trying to work with them and find some middle ground. At that point they have 3 choices: 1) increase their budget to get everything that they want, 2) compromise some of the things they want in order to keep the price down, or 3) look for another designer. If they choose either of the first two options you’ll get the business without compromising too much, and if they choose to look for another designer at least you will avoid spending too much time without making enough money. And they may even come back for one of your packages when they see their other options.

5. Use Affiliate Programs

If none of the other options sound like a good fit for you, you could also consider using affiliate programs to get some financial benefit from lower budget clients that you aren’t able to accommodate. There are a lot of web builders out there (some better than others) that allow anyone to create their own website, and most of them have affiliate programs. For example, you could join the Squarespace affiliate program and recommend their product. Anyone can set up a website with their system without the need for a designer, and for many types of businesses it can be a good low-cost option. As an affiliate you can make $50 – $100 per referral. There are of course plenty of similar products and services out there that you could promote as well or instead.

For clients that are looking for e-commerce websites on a low budget you could recommend a solution like Shopify or Highwire. They both have affiliate programs and users are able to set up an e-commerce site for a very low cost with the pre-designed templates that are free for their users.

Affiliate programs can also be helpful for supplementing the income that you make for lower-budget projects. For example, almost every hosting company has an affiliate program, and most pay anywhere from $50 – $150 per referral. If your clients are signing up for hosting through your affiliate links you can make a little bit more on those low-budget projects than you would otherwise.

6. Outsource

Although a client’s budget may be smaller than you would need in order to do the work yourself, there may be options to outsource the work to another designer/developer who can do the work for a lower cost. There are certainly pros and cons to outsourcing. Personally, I’ve never outsourced client projects (aside from PSD to HTML coding services) because it has potential to still be a big headache with little financial reward. However, I know others who outsource almost every project, and overall it works pretty well for some designers.

Whether you want to pursue outsourcing client projects is, of course, up to you. Even though it is not something I have personally chosen to do, I did want to include it on this list because it does work for some people.

7. Partner with Another Designer

By partnering with another designer you may be able to get a lot of the benefits of outsourcing without all of the cons. When you outsource the work the client may or may not be aware that you are not personally doing the work, but either way you are still acting as a middle man between the client and the other designer. You would be accepting some financial risk, taking on some responsibilities for managing the project, and opening yourself up to potential headaches if the client is not happy with the work of the outsourced designer.

By partnering with another designer, what I am suggesting is that you find a designer who is willing and able to work with client budgets that are below a level that you service. When a client comes to you and their budget falls below a level that you can work with, you could put them in contact with this other designer. You can work out an arrangement with the other designer that makes the referral beneficial to you as well. Maybe they would be willing to pay you a referral fee for anyone who becomes a paying client. Or maybe they could do something else in exchange, such as refer a specific type of client to you.

Unlike outsourcing, when you are simply introducing the client to the other designer you would not be taking a financial risk, or committing yourself to the time needed to oversee the project. Finding the right designer to partner with is not always easy, but there are a lot of opportunities out there. If you are able to find someone who can consistently service clients that you are not able to, that can be a very good way to have something to offer to these types of clients.

How Do You Handle Low-Budget Projects?

If you have some approach or strategy for servicing clients with low budgets please feel free to share your experience in the comments

Designers and developers have unlimited potential and opportunities when it comes to side projects. With your skills, knowledge, and experience you can do any number of different things aside from your full-time work to make a little extra money, or just for fun. Some of the possibilities include blogging, designing stock graphics for sale (like icons, vectors, etc.), designing and selling website templates or themes, running a community website, and writing a book or e-book. Of course, there are countless possibilities, these are just some of the more common choices.

Many designers choose to take on side projects because they can provide a creative outlet where you get to make all of your own decisions, rather than just following the wishes of a client. They can also help to give you something productive to do during down time between client projects, or for those who are working to build a portfolio they can often serve as excellent work samples. Side projects also have potential to make some money, and in some cases they can even lead to a full-time income. They can even provide some excellent networking and collaboration opportunities. So as you can see, there are a lot of reasons for designers to consider taking on a side project.

In this article we’ll take a look at seven keys or tips that will hopefully help to make your own efforts with side projects more beneficial.

1. Know Your Purpose

There are any number of different reasons why you could start a side project. Maybe you are just looking for a project that will allow you to do the things you enjoy, but with more creative freedom than your full-time work. Or it could be that you want to learn some new skill and you’re using the side project to gain experience. For many designers the motivation is at least partially motivated by the opportunity for income. You could be looking for a little extra money on top of your full-time income, or it could be that you’re a freelancer and you’re trying to make more productive use of your time between client projects.

It’s important to know your purpose and your motivation because it should dictate how you go about managing the side project. There is no right or wrong motivation. If your main purpose is to have fun and enjoy your creative freedom, you can pretty much work on whatever you want whenever you feel like it. On the other hand, if your purpose is to supplement your freelancing income you will want to approach the side project with a more organized and business-like mindset.

Your purpose will also have a big influence on the specific side project you choose to follow. If you’re looking to make money you’ll obviously need to choose something with the potential for creating that income. If you’re looking for something that will simply supplement your existing income you may want to choose something that offers the potential to start making a small amount of money pretty quickly. If your goal is to ultimately use the side-project to replace your full-time income, you’ll want to consider the long-term income potential of any projects that you evaluate.

2. Be Realistic About Time Limitations

One of the biggest challenges with side projects is the inevitable time limitation. Take a look at your schedule and try to be as realistic as possible about how much time you really can dedicate to a side project. Do you have a few hours that you can dedicate each week? Is your available time more sporadic and not as frequent? It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of an idea for a side project only to realize pretty quickly that you simply don’t have the time needed to make it work. It’s better to consider those time limitations before getting started and chose a side project that will fit with the amount of time that you have available.

3. Consider On-Going Requirements

Along with the previous point, on-going time requirements should also be considered. For example, you may have time available right now to create a WordPress theme or plugin to sell, but will you have the time for on-going support and updates that will be required? The more limitations that exist on your time, the more you should consider projects with a reduced need for on-going time commitments.

Anything that is likely to involve a considerable amount of customer service or support will require that you always have some time available to deal with these issues. This doesn’t mean that you can’t sell any items or products, because some items require much less support than others. For example, designing and selling an icon set will lead to a small amount of customer service emails, and most of the requests you do receive will be things like answering basic questions or helping people who may have issues with downloads or payments. Selling website templates, WordPress themes, or plugins will likely bring far more customer service requests, and many of them will involve more time and effort on your part to research and solve.

In general, things like stock graphics and e-books are good for designers who don’t expect to have much time available for ongoing support and service. And things like templates, plugins, blogs, community websites, an online courses are good opportunities if the need for on-going support is not a problem. Also keep in mind that income potential is not equal for all projects. So while top selling WordPress themes will require support from the designer/developer, they also provide a high potential income.

4. Set Aside Time Each Week

Setting aside the time needed for your side project is important. If you’re working a full-time job or freelancing full-time you’ll probably need to set aside some time during evenings or weekends to focus on the side project. Most people, myself included, struggle to get things done on side projects if time is not designated specifically for that purpose.

Each project will have it’s own time requirements, so you’ll need to consider your own situation. If you’re working on something like a book that will take a lot of time to complete, try to find a time in your schedule that you can dedicate on a weekly basis.

5. Start Small and Build

From my own experience, one of the most challenging aspects of side projects is limiting the scope. In most situations it’s easy to try to do too much all at once, and with a limited amount of time available it can reduce the quality and success of the project. If you’re working on a blog or a website as your side project you may have big ideas and plans that you want to implement with the site. In most cases you’ll be better off if you can keep it basic to get started, focus on doing things well, and then expand and add new features or sections of the site later.

If your goal is to create a template or theme club as your side project, focus at first on just creating your first template or theme and doing the best job possible. Then later you can focus on adding more templates and themes, but don’t try to do too much right away.

Time limitations are something that you’ll always have to deal with on side projects. By recognizing the limitation and appropriately focusing on starting small you can build success over a period of time, and you’ll do it on a solid foundation. If you’re trying to do too much all at once it’s easy to get frustrated and give up before you achieve that success that you’re looking for.

6. Consider Sustainability or an Exit Plan

While you’re thinking about how much time your side project will require on an on-going basis, think not only about the time that you will have available, but also about whether it is something that you will still want to be working on a year from now. Also consider if it is possible for the time requirements of the project to grow faster than the income from the project. For example, you could start some type of community website for designers. It’s possible that the site could grow quickly and require more effort on your part to keep it running smoothly. It’s also possible that the site doesn’t produce significant income for you despite growth in traffic and the amount of time you spend working on the site. If this happens, how will you sustain the site? Will you be able to use the income from the site to outsource the maintenance to someone else? Will you be able to quit your full-time job or scale back on client projects to allow for more time on the project?

In addition to sustainability, you can also consider if the project is something that you may be able to sell. If the side project is a website or a blog, chances are you would be able to find a buyer when you are ready to move on to something else (of course, it’s possible that you may not be able to find a buyer that is willing to pay the amount that you want to get for the site). Obviously, the details of the project’s sustainability and your exit plan can change and evolve throughout the life of the project, but it helps to consider these details early on and at least start to develop a plan.

7. Take Advantage of Leveraging Opportunities

Since one of the biggest challenges of side projects is the time limitation, anything you can do to leverage your time can be helpful. If you are creating and selling some sort of resources (templates, themes, stock graphics, e-books) there are opportunities right now to use deal websites or existing marketplaces to sell your products. In general, I think a lot of designers can make more profit by selling resources on their own rather than using stock marketplaces, but when your time is limited there are some significant advantages to using a marketplace. While the marketplace will obviously have some drawbacks (sharing revenue with the marketplace and the chance of having your products buried by thousands of other items), you also have the potential to start selling items without the need to set up your own online shop or to process transactions. It’s possible to leverage the popularity of a marketplace like ThemeForest to get a great deal of exposure for your product without doing any marketing on your own.

Aside from marketplaces, there are also a number of deal sites that present opportunities for selling products. Sites like MightyDeals and AppSumo have huge customer lists that you can leverage, and there are even more deal sites with smaller audiences that can also produce some sales for you. With deal sites you’ll need to be able and willing to offer a deep discount on your product, and then you’ll also have to share the revenue with the deal site. So you’ll be making significantly less per sale than you would make by selling the product on your own, but the volume of sales can be pretty significant. In general, deal sites work best for selling digital products with low customer service requirements. If your product is likely to require a decent amount of customer support you should consider how much you would be making on each sale and determine if that amount is enough to cover the time and expenses needed to support the sales made through the promo.

Leveraging opportunities aren’t applicable only to side projects that involve selling products. If your side project is running a blog, you could leverage your time by accepting guest posts from other writers. There are a lot of people looking for guest posting opportunities in order to get a link back to their own website or blog (usually in the author bio of the guest post). By accepting guest posts you can get content for your blog without the time requirement of producing all of the content yourself, and without the need to hire freelance writers.

You really just want to look for ways to make the most of your time and to work with other people and other websites to improve the results of your project.

Conclusion

The unlimited possibility for side projects is one of the things I love about the design and development industry. There are always ways to have fun and experiment on your own, and making money with side projects is also possible. However, in order for the project to truly be successful you’ll need to make the best use of your time, and I hope the tips covered in this article can help with your own projects.

So you took the time to send a web design estimate but didn’t get the project.

They said they just didn’t have the budget for it. You know they liked your work, or else they wouldn’t have contacted you for an estimate in the first place.

But is it really just the price that they didn’t like?

You know you’re not going to get any real answers from them. So there goes another lead that probably was never going to turn into a client.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. In fact, this happens a lot. Too much, maybe.

You know you do quality work and your pricing is more than fair (maybe even lower than it should be). So if it’s not pricing, then what’s the problem with your estimates?

Well, I’m going to show you how five tweaks to your estimates can increase your chances of getting these client projects.

Focus on the Business Results

The biggest problem with estimates that don’t win clients is that they aren’t written persuasively. What you probably have is a list of services with prices like an invoice.

Like this:

But listing your services like this makes them a commodity, and easier for your clients to do some comparison shopping.

Instead, you need to frame your services in a persuasive way that shows your clients exactly why they want a new website design and that you’re the perfect person to create it for them.

When talking to your client, make sure you ask them questions about why they want a new website design.

Your conversation should be something like:

Client: We need a new website redesign
You: And why do you think you need this redesign?
Client: We’re hoping that it will increase traffic and sales.
You: What do you think is the biggest challenge right now?
Client: We just don’t see a lot of leads coming through. A new design that helps us qualify leads and gain more of them would be great.

Bingo!

So when you’re writing up the estimate for this client, keep their business’ needs in mind. Instead of calling your service “Marketing Website Redesign,” call the project “Increasing Leads through a Marketing Website Redesign.”

Not only will your clients be thrilled that you know what they want, but this will give you the knowledge of what needs to be the focus within the project itself.

Bundle Your Pricing

Now that you know what to call your services, you’re going to need to change your pricing layout.

Instead of showing each individual service and the hourly rate, use bundled pricing. Bundled pricing packages all of your services into one solution with one price. Like this:

So instead of line items that are commodities, you have a tailored, personalized solution for your client. This clearly states how your services will help solve their company’s problem and doesn’t make it easy for them to shop around to other designers.

Bundled pricing is key for persuasive fees that will make your clients say yes.

Only Show Totals

Along with bundling your services, you should also only show the total price for your entire solution.

Instead of this:

You want it to look like this:

This is better than an invoice style for two reasons. One, as we discussed, because it doesn’t let your solution be compared to others. And two, because you want to keep your clients focused on results, not on hours.

While your clients are certainly interested in how long a project will take, it’s better to tell them what your solution will do for their business. With individual services and fees listed, this changes their focus from value to time. And if your clients don’t like the amount of time it’s going to take, they will go to another designer who can complete the project faster.

Give Them Choices

In addition to your original solution, you should offer your clients a couple more options. With more than one option, this changes the estimate from a yes or no decision into a choice of service level. Your clients could purchase the original, basic solution, or they could select an enhanced, premium version.

Make sure that your options are extensions and not add-ons. So for the original example of doing a marketing website redesign, natural up-sells would be these:

Note that the extension options are also bundled and feature one single price.

Here’s another example if you ran a social media service. Your basic solution is to manage your client’s Twitter account. An enhanced option would be to manage the Twitter account and get 1,000 followers per month. The premium option would be to manage the account, get the 1,000 followers, and get 10 influencers per month.

The best part about adding options? If you add the right up-sells, you could earn up to 30% more per client.

Just make sure that you don’t give your clients too many options. When presented with more than one or two extra extensions, your clients could get overwhelmed and choose to abandon your estimate.

Include a Call to Action

At the bottom of your estimate you need to tell your clients exactly what to do next. Without giving them exact steps to take, you can draw out the process and potential lose your client.

Label the section clearly with a subheading like “Next Steps.” Underneath, list what actions you would like them to take. This is the section where deposits and other things you need to get started should be clearly indicated.

A great call to action looks like this:

Next Steps

To proceed with this project, [Your client’s name here] is required to take the following steps:

1. Accept the estimate as is or discuss desired changes. Please note that changes to the project can be made at any time, but additional charges may apply.
2. Finalize and sign contract.
3. Submit initial payment of 50% of total project fee.

Once these steps have been completed, we will begin with a meeting to introduce relevant personnel and begin preliminary activities.

Your call to action must be clear, easy to understand, and above all, make it easy for your client to say yes. Too many steps can make your next steps unclear, which you definitely don’t want.

How it All Comes Together

Now that you’ve made your way through these elements of persuasive web design estimates, let’s recap:

• Focus on what value your services will provide.
• Change the name of your service to show your clients that you are focused on their needs.
• Bundle your services into one detailed solution with one single price.
• Offer a couple extensions of your solution to give your clients a choice.
• Provide a clear call to action with easy steps for them to take.

Have you tried any of these strategies in your estimates? What elements have you found to work really well your web design estimates?

About the Author:

Ruben Gamez (@bidsketch) is the founder of Bidsketch, a web app that helps freelancers create professional looking proposals and in minutes. he’s also the author of a free guide that teaches freelancers how to get more clients with a perfect proposal.