Forum Moderators: phranque
It really drives me nuts when you know of people who can barely turn on a computer, who get freelance jobs to create websites for places...then ask you questions like "How do I make a link open in a new window?" ... I mean ... how did you get the job in the first place?
Yet myself, who with the help of a graphics designer can create anything, including corporate ecommerce apps that integrate with legacy corporate apps and multiple databases (not exactly a fun task though), struggles to get freelance work?
It just boggles my mind...
I realize my portfolio is lacking, since I'm mainly a programmer...and it's not the easiest skill to showcase when most of your work is proprietary and can't be shared.
But...yeah...anyhow, just venting.
Really, if you're losing business to someone offering an inferior product then you need to take a look at your business process.
Did they go a lot cheaper? Then chances are you wouldn't have landed the client anyway. Why were you wasting your time trying to get the business? Is this an issue with the way you are targeting your services? Maybe you need to re-assess your target market.
If their prices were comparible to your own, then you've lost out during your sales pitch and that's your failing, not a lack of judgement or understanding on behalf of the potential client. You need to pick up the slack here - some clients will be hard work from the minute you first get in contact with them - you need to educate them and help build their confidence in you, your skills and your business.
Agreed, lot's of clients don't know the first thing about designing a website (and lots think they do, but they don't). But it's up to you to make the call. You need to be able to effectively sell your product - why it is beneficial for the client and better than the competition.
Getting the ball rolling in an industry where testimonials and examples of work can go a long way, is a very hard thing to do and although it may seem like it should be otherwise, there's a lot more to it than just being (technically) better than the next guy.
MG
site:theirsite.com service
site:yoursite.com service
Competitor site came up with no blurb and just a link to their domain, not even the company name came up in Google except, and this is great, on a link to their *old* site which, when clicked gives a 404. Must be out of business I guess ;-)
Friend's Google blurb came up with the title of the company as the major link, with blurb text describing their services and giving their address and phone number and saying they offered gift certificates. A top SEO couldn't have done better and this is just something that the partner hacked out in a few hours on FrontPage.
I said, "So what do you think? Should we copy those other guys, or just get something that is easier to read and navigate than your site is now, but is in plain HTML that SEs can read."
That ended the Flash discussion right there.
This will also help you answer your initial question!
Showcasing your DB skills is tough, but be as descriptive as possible when explaining your completed projects... You do the back end primarily and need to paint a vivid picture for your potential clients to see
I have found the best thing to have are *testimonials* from companies that you have helped with your programming talent. Having a well known company owner say "XYZ Progamming improved my shipping department's productivity by 500%!" will surely catch the attention of the business owner looking for some custom programming. The most important thing is to never get technical, always dummy up the speak or else you are going to loose your potential clients.
This is, of course, assuming you are dealing directly with clients and not as a sub-contractor to a larger programming house...
[edited by: trillianjedi at 9:55 pm (utc) on Nov. 20, 2005]
[edit reason] No commercial posts here please.... [/edit]
A huge part of the process when discussing with clients is being an educator. The overwhelming majority have absolutely no clue whatsoever what they want or need, so the consultancy aspect is even more vital than the site-building process. You need to hand-hold them through the myriad of choices, instill confidence in their choices and propose your agenda without resorting to technical terms.
For example, I have never once mentioned the terms web standards, CSS, validation, header tags, etc. to a client. You can (and often should) talk about usability, use of text, information architecture as well as the disadvantages of using certain popular technologies such as Flash. You need to show examples of good work and be able to explain why they are better than the norm or what the client is proposing. In this business, the client is very often wrong, usually due to ignorance.
Freelancing needs a personal touch, so make sure your your website reflects that. If you are targetting a particular geograpical area (most freelancers are looking for local business), make sure that is clear on your site - put your address and telephone number on your contact form and the city name on most pages. Whilst it is imperative to have your own site to display your portfolio, very little business will come of it - virtually every contract you will get will be from local offline marketing and networking. Paradoxically, your handshake and business card are more powerful than your website will ever be.
Finally, if you don't have a portfolio and testimonials from at least four or five different companies/organizations, then you will struggle. So go out and build those portfolio sites - contact local charitable organizations that you support and pitch in - they are investments which will be worthwhile. Good luck!
I have never once mentioned the terms web standards, CSS, validation, header tags, etc. to a client.
The first line of the page in your profile:
We build standards-compliant, accessible websites
:-o
Basically, I have to agree though. I recently did a site for someone who wanted it set up so they could maintain it themselves. I asked, "Okay, how much do you want to learn?" Answer: "As little as possible. I don't want to learn any HTML if I can avoid it. That's why I'm hiring you."
That pretty much set the tone. From there out, I just said "You don't want to do that because of non-technical explanation X. I can explain why in detail if you want." Answer: "No, just get it done." He's real happy with the end result.
Honestly it's almost pointless to try and do a portfolio for back-end work. Let's face it, 99% of people reading will have absolutely no idea what the heck you are talking about when you say "In this application we created a custom Caching object to minimize database calls between page loads"... people will think "What the hell is this geek talking about?".
I have to disagree there. I would talk about the functionality or improvements that were made. Basically, the benefits of the work. Then, I would still talk about how, and maybe why when it isn't obvious.
Someone said earlier that clients who understand the tech talk are the ones you want. I agree. The ones who don't understand the tech talk can still understand the benefits of the back-end work if it's explained to them. Those could be good clients too.
