Hello WMT forums
I am currently providing hosting on one of my sites. About a month ago i was looking at some different sites and noticed alot of web design ones. So i decided i would try and start a website for web design. I can design in photoshop export and import into dreamweaver then transform into CSS. Its just alot of the sites i have seen offering web design offer "pay-monthly" offers. How can you pay monthly? Could someone give me some guidance on what the pay monthly type of web design is and any software that could bill for web design

I can design in photoshop export and import into dreamweaver then transform into CSS.

If that is the extent of your "design" knowledge DON'T

I mean im mainly a designer not a coder. I have coded and designed a couple of sites. Im learning CSS and HTML at he moment. And i know everyone here will say "learn it before your start design". Im a designer not a coder

learn it before your start design

There's a lot lot more to building a proper web site than knocking up some graphical interface in your image editor. Accessibility, usability and presentation are the three that usually spring to my mind first, and that's before I even think about any images at all.

I have to agree with the others - learn it inside out

If you can ditch Photoshop and Dreamweaver and still turn out a good usable site then might be a good time to offer your services to the wider world.

Getting deeper into web design you will see that images will almost always have to be cut into pieces and "re-assembled" back into your site. This could be a real challenge if you don't know about positioning things with CSS and proper xhtml amongst many other things.

Just remember, you're not making a brochure to be printed on paper, your making an interactive website.

As for the "monthly" charge for a website, I can't see any way that would work out. I always get a percentage down and the balance upon approval of the finished site. I don't know any designer who would put many hours into a design and simply "hope" that the customer stays on time with monthly payments.

There is software called Billquick2008 on the download.com site. It's a huge file but I think it will keep track of hourly charges and create invoices, etc.

Please everyone. I knew this would happen. I dont care that i may not be able to do it im just curious. Thanks racer x

Ahhh! I found it! Your talking about GoDaddy's special. You pay about $70 monthly and they "design"(hardly!) the website. I figured it was some giant company. For that service you select a pre-designed "template"(little or NO modifications) and get around 4 pages. You provide all images, text, color selections, etc.(as normal) They just plug that info in to the template and its done. They also allow you 30 minutes of updates per month for that fee.

I suppose you could do a site that way under THOSE terms. Heck, after 2 years the cutomer will have paid over $1600 for a straight out of the box template site(if they pay respectively). I just wouldn't want my name on something like that.

A fair price, a nice website, get paid, move on

Thanks racer x once again you explained it to me =D

yeah you shouldn't just go into this field blind, there are a lot of areas in design you will not have even explored yet and personally i like to look at all areas of a field before moving my knowledge, for example there is contemporary art and other styles can you do all the styles.

Defiantly do not think your going to design then just export it, thats not a way to go you end up with loads of images and it looks amateurish, so work on the design if you haven't explored all the fields as remember clients like a variation of style and it shows you just don't follow one style which in my opinion is your USP and why people choose you . Anyway if you feel you have done all that and have to go into coding learn xhtml and css i know designers who can do both design and coding. I used to think you where one or the other but its not true you can do anything you want to aslong as you put your mind too it so don't devalue yourself by saying your just a designer, you have allready taken that first step to want to learn coding which is great as people don't want to expand their skill-set.

To help you out buy some books, the sitepoint ones are the best, do not use tables, validate all your code to W3C standards and think about the user rather than the seo point of view (i know this is hard and is sometimes a catch 22 situation as you may not get users without doing good seo).

You should deffinantly not rush into this if you take your time and learn about it, it will come much simpler and it will show you your not amateurish then companies or individuals will want to choose you.

The only a monthly charge works out is if you offer to maintain it for them and them contact you wanting you to update it for them, then and only then it will pay.

You just want to start everything, don't you?

I wonder how long it will be before we see a "How can I sell my webdesign services"?

or "how do I resell web design services?" - once he figures out he can't do it.

Just a thought why not put the hosting on a back burner go back to being with a host for like $5 a month or get a part time job paying daily then save and u can pay for your server, or do both it will put money in your pocket in which later you can go back to what you want. Sometimes you have to grit your teeth and do things you don't want to do instead of trying to offer too much yes these days especially in the industry they look for large skill sets but won't pay for those but in reality you become spread too thin and so cannot be 100% good at all regions your in so focus on design then move on like i said above.

If your good at design then focus on that, don't sell your self short, even if you want you could offer websites but outsource the coding then once you have learn't how to do it make it all yourself, do not go down the path just because you have a server or more you have to do other things to pay that server what will happen next month?

Is business that bad and if so then you should get out of it before one day you have nothing left. On the off shoot of things there are always ups and down and do not try and beat what the big companies offer, you will never they have larger pockets then you so your kidding yourself there. focus on what you do best and make sure others know you do that **** good and your worth their resources.

Those are my 2cents.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

I wonder how long it will be before we see a "How can I sell my webdesign services"?

Thats exactly what im asking. Dont you read the thread? -.-

Yes

It's called irony

incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

or sarcasm

I suggest going through the w3schools tutorials and start at the beginning.
In the meanwhile, maybe you can team up with a coder who lacks in graphic skills. This will create a win-win situation as you will see first hand how it all comes together and he would get quality graphics.

If you have decided you want to earn some extra money as a Web designer. You have the skills and the talent.Creating a business plan will turn your idea of making money with your Web design into a real business. How can you pay monthly?This question is bit difficult because its not a simple field there you can fix monthly or daily payment. Its related to your work if graphics and theme is difficult you pay more.

I agree 110% with xpguy.. as someone that runs their own firm, your USP is so important -- what sets you apart from the thousands of others. Also choose a niche in the web design field. Specialize in something that makes YOU attractive.

Thanks. Ive decided not to charge monthly because of the hassle. =D