Forum Moderators: travelin cat
I've appreciated all the feedback on my "move to Mac?" posting. I am definitely going to switch, thanks for all the advice!
I've been doing web development for four years and seem to have wound down. I do small business sites, either new or needing search engine optimization. I love love love helping businesses grow, it is so much fun to be part of. My question is, I went from more business than I could keep up with in the last 6 months to finishing it all up and realizing too late I have done no marketing to keep up the terrific flow. So now I need to start proactively building the business (so far it's been all referrals).
Does anyone have/willing to give some advice about building up an existing web design business? I'd also like to find something more on my own to sell on the web, to develop and run my own ecommerce site but have not yet found anything I wanted to sell or or that seemed to have enough potential.
As I said, I'm sure this belongs in another forum and I'll post it there next. But you all seem to be deeply ingrained in the web business in varying ways and if anyone has some insight on creating a stronger web development business or beginning and ecommerce venture I'd appreciate the input. I love what I'm doing and would like to branch out to my own site (less customer service hand holding and educating, more freedom) but I know that sounds like everyone else wanting to find an income generating web business. Oh well :) It's so much fun to work in this environment :)
Thanks in advance for any discussion...
This could be an interessting thread.
There are so many creative neat things happening on the web and I watch my customers do well. So doesn't it seem that if we are in the terrific position of knowing how to build sites, optimize them, bring in the traffic, set up an inexpensive flexible shopping cart (I use Americart and highly recommend it)...that it's just silly not to be able to find a niche with a product or service that your really like and have fun with to do your own site with?
I think that's the key...if you want to sell something yourself make sure it's something you really care about, something that you see as really fun to work with. I started to build a site for designers...buttons, graphical elements that kind of thing. But it felt too much like what I already do all day. I wanted to branch out to something different.
That aside, then the other aspect is how to bring in more web business? I've never figured that out. It comes pouring in with referrals only, I'm overwhelmed for awhile but loving it, then it just stops. Then it flows in again. I would really like to find a way to keep a more steady flow of new design business coming in. I've talked to the local Chamber of Commerce but they didn't seem to think it was that great of a networking opportunity.
Any ideas thoughts experiences which have worked would be great to know about!
The more sites you build, the higher your potential revenue and less dependent it is on any single factor or site.
So it's similar to building a page with affiliate links, same idea? And just building enough of them that they make money for you? Are there any real differences between the two?
Have you used your formula with success?
I'm too lazy to have built enough marketable content to make much, but I have good friends who are consistently doing $100+ per day (with multiple sites and thousands of pages of content up). It's time consuming to set up, but low maintenance afterward.
But we're getting really off topic for the Mac forum now. ;)
