I think what most of the younger members are missing, and what us "geezers" are getting at is that it's not the fact that you are 14, 15, 16. It's the fact that people won't take you seriously, much less give you money (unless they're family of friends), if you don't present yourself in a professional manner. Did you read the original post?

i am looking for neone looking for a website layout to be sold at an offerable price, if u r looking for one either post back on this board or im me on aim at rollerrebel919

If not, let me break it down for you.

(1) Spelling like Prince is just fine and dandy if you're chatting with friends on ICQ. If you're trying to sell your work, you must be professional about it. I would never trust anyone that wants to take my money by writing "i can design ur website 4 real cheap. r u interested?"

(2) Puctuation and Grammer. Regardless of how talented you are, if you don't know how to capitalize letters, use periods where necessary, not use commas where unnecessary, learning the value of the Return key, not only will people not be able to read and make sense of what you wrote, but they won't take you seriously.

(3) Spelling and Word Definitions. Learn how to spell. Learn the meaning of words. Know when a word you are using does not exist. Example: Offerable. Capable of being offered. Used in the sentence above, "looking for a website layout to be sold at an capable of being offered price"

I have nothing against younger people getting into webdesign/programming. In fact, I fully support it. But first and foremost, you have to learn. Not just learn how to code, how to use Photoshop, how to do relational tables in a MySQL database....but learn the etiquette of the professional world. At 14, you aren't old enough to have a 9-5 job that you absolutely hate because you deal with stupid people day in and day out. You haven't had to bite your tongue when an irate customer (who is totally wrong, btw) will not let you get a word in edgewise when you're trying to explain a situation that cannot be helped. You have not learned the value of "professional appearance" yet. You are still, for lack of a better word, naive.

But it's okay. Because you're still 14. Just don't try to enter into the adult world when you're not ready for it.

P.S. (Not meant as a slam in any way) but while most [strangers] will trust their money and their websites in the hands of an adult long before they trust a 14 year old, there's still hope.

http://www.diaryland.com

Sign up. Get yourself a diary. Setup some templates. Sell / market yourself. There are people selling templates anywhere between $5-20. More if you do custom designs. But be careful when setting your prices...remember, don't overcharge because (1) you'll come off as greedy, and (2) you = greedy = less buyers.

I was just about to post something on this topic, but I feel that prissed has said exactly what I was thinking - it's not the design ability of young people that is in doubt, it's simply that business is far more complex than just providing a product.

I'm someone who's all for young people getting into the web development business etc. (I started when I was 12 or 13 too) but the problem is that you are dealing with people who are running 'real' businesses, which they depend on for their livelyhood, and your work and professionalism must match theirs to do business with them. You can't simply get bored of your business and give it up.

It's slightly unrelated, but if there is some sort of business programme run by your school or local government, I strongly recommend taking part. I just completed a year's Young Enterprise (http://www.yes.org.uk), and I learned far more than I ever had working from home. You just try fulfilling 30 orders in two days, when you have nowhere near enough stock and each item takes at least an hour of highly skilled work to complete!

But anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be for me to complain about the failings of our company....

So my advice? Read prissed's advice and take it on board

I'm only 16, but my sites far surpass those of rollerrebel. The reason I had that outburst was because he was IMing me and being annoying. His layouts weren't those that would be priced at the prices he suggested. And it was also annoying that he would just post like crazy about the same thing over and over like an immature kid. I nicely said to him on aim that if he acted the way he did to other people, they would quickly realize his immaturity and not buy anything from him...so yea....

I still think you were a little harsh.

Originally posted by theblt
I'm only 16, but my sites far surpass those of rollerrebel.

WTF??? That is the most assanine and immature (I know I'm being redundant) thing I've ever read. You totally shot down this person who has not since logged in on this site. I guess the redeeming factor is that you are young. But for you to be talking about maturity, you show a lack of it.

HEAVY ... but true!

My two cents,

I, sitting hear, a 13-year-old, who has (as I like to put it) "Gone through that stage" of being an eager kid who wants money and publicity to setting myself up for an actual career. This "kid" is obviously still in the first stage and I think collectively (agreeing with The Crow) we have been way to harsh. Three pages of different people saying the same thing, I really have to sympathize with him and hope that he has taken from this what I did one day.

Good Luck,

Devin

P.S. As a side note, I check ALL my messages for incorrect spelling because I know that I can't spell to save my life.

The young man may never be back again. I hope he will, and then he will see thier are a lot of nice people on this forum.
Crow

Why don't you guys drop the subject? Really now. I still stand where I did before. He really annoyed me on AIM asking me the same things he posted here, just copied and pasted them, asking if I'd buy these crappy templates from him. I told him no. Next day, same thing again, buggin me over crap. I now program in PHP and am updating a website to be fully PHP functional and database-driven. Whether you like me or not, I am not an immature person. I also plan on opening up my own website template/logo creation center where I will be selling just that. I have already created another site that has it's own CMS (content management system) completely customized to fit its needs.

Originally posted by theblt
Why don't you guys drop the subject? Really now. I still stand where I did before. He really annoyed me on AIM asking me the same things he posted here, just copied and pasted them, asking if I'd buy these crappy templates from him. I told him no. Next day, same thing again, buggin me over crap.

So if he was bothering you so much why not just put him on your ignore list instead of coming in here trashing him?

I now program in PHP and am updating a website to be fully PHP functional and database-driven.

So you used php to generate a page with a blank table? Amazing, I wish I had your skills

Whether you like me or not, I am not an immature person.

And I don't spend hours on the computer polishing my programming skills :P

I also plan on opening up my own website template/logo creation center where I will be selling just that. I have already created another site that has it's own CMS (content management system) completely customized to fit its needs.

Okay honestly I'm going to drop it because you obviously feel justified in what you did. Quite frankly, I think your skills are non-existent. The "websites with full php functionaility and own cms" are most likely no more than vaporware. Even if they did exist, it's not like you programmed a lick, you just uploaded a copy of PHP Nuke and probably used one of the included templates. You are sorry and will never amount to anything because you don't even realize you are sorry (by sorry I mean pathetic). I hope you have fun in your illusional world where you're a wonderful graphic artist and PHP programmer but the rest of us like to focus on this place called reality. That's all I have to say.

Peace

I think this matter should have been dropped long ago. And I don't think your comments are in anyway beneficial to this thread, browntech.

You tell theblt to ignore instead of trash rollerrebel, yet you trash him here. Months after the posts took place.

Browntech...I don't spend ALL of my time on the computer. I haven't really gotten time to sit down and program for awhile now actually. And yes, I did program the entire site by hand. http://www.thebltmagic.com . Not some PHP Nuke rip off.