Part-time freelance web development

HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

February 25 2013 21:34 GMT

I am seriously considering launching my own part-time web development business to run on the side, separate from my full-time job. The problem is, I'm not really sure how to go about doing this. After some basic google searching I've come up with things that I know I'll definitely need. Those are:

1. A personal website
2. A portfolio on said website of my work
3. Some sort of business/accounting (this is where I get kind of lost).
4. (Probably) some CMS that I can churn out good websites rather quickly (I've been reading Wordpress is pretty good for this).

After that, I'm pretty lost, and I could really use some help with basically everything but #1. It is also worth mentioning that I (currently) have 0 desire to become a full-time freelancer, or in anyway want to leave or jeopardize my current job. I spent several years in school to get this job, and the most realistic place for advancement for me would be this career, not freelancing. This is entirely to make extra money on the side.

Some important things about me:

1. I'm currently a "webmaster" for a library, and have a website that I am (basically) solely responsible for.
2. I'm a recent graduate with not much professional work to showcase. I don't have paid projects from other business to showcase.
3. I'd consider myself a competent web designer, with a good amount of technical knowledge, and have experience in creating webpages either from straight html/css/php/javascript/etc. or within a CMS. However, I do not have a lot of graphic design knowledge. My graphic design abilities are next to nil.
4. I have zero experience running my own business.
5. I only want to do this part-time for extra money.
6. I can only be a 1 man show (I can't hire outside graphic designers or anything).

Anyone out there in TL land have experience with this or even similar part-time businesses? Any help would be much appreciated. I've heard of some sites where you can basically advertise your availability and clients will contact you (and I imagine the website will get a cut) and you don't have to do much of your own business running. I'm not sure if that is worth getting involved in.

Any other freelance web developers out there?

Kaeru

Sweden552 Posts

February 25 2013 22:13 GMT

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Deleted User 61629

1664 Posts

February 25 2013 22:16 GMT

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HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

February 25 2013 22:25 GMT

On February 26 2013 07:13 Kaeru wrote:
I worked as web designer / developer for about 8 years professionally. Had a company with 16 employers and now I am freelancing from Bangkok with my Scandinavian clients.

1. Since you don't have a wide network or a famous name in the business a personal website with portfolio will be a good idea.
2. Same as above I guess.
3. I don't know how this works in the US, but in Sweden it is very easy to register a personal company. Unless you're expecting to earn a lot of money you don't really need an accountant... It should be easy enough to just google everything on the fly... But then again - in Sweden we get a lot of support and help from the Swedish Tax Agency.
4. Wordpress is great for this type of business. Quick, easy and you don't need much design skills.

#Portfolio and showcase
When I first started with web design I didn't have anything to show either. No education, no payed work - nothing. What I did was that I pretended to be a client and the developer. I sen't e-mail to myself with a brief, I responded with a quote, then made wireframes and eventually I finished a fake websites for "a client". After having 4-5 fake websites... I sent out my portfolio to 6-7 different companies and all of them wanted me... Woho. No education FTW!

#Clients and network
One thing I've noticed about finding clients and building a network is to always dress quite nice, look like a decent business man and present yourself as a web designer when talking to people. I could say that 25% of people I meet (I am 28) want to exchange business information when they hear that I am a web designer...

A lot of those are restaurants, hair saloons, just random people with small businesses... Most of them are like small $1500 jobs - but with some of these people I've been able to write really good contracts and start long-term business relationships with.

#No experience in running a business
I would say just jump into it. Read how you actually get your business registered and register it. You will learn everything else on the fly... Spend 20 minutes per day or even 10 minutes to Google one or two relevant questions about your business. After a while you will learn. I've had my freelance business for 2 years now and I still Google everything on the fly.

Since this is my full-time work I hired an accountant for the second year (have quite a lot of income).

#CMS!
Use Wordpress, it's easy for your clients to update and it's very easy for you to set up a website. If you don't know anything about design then use pre-made themes. There are a lot of them out there that look great!

But I would suggest that you slowly learn how Wordpress core works.

#Design
There are so much resources out there to help you if a client wants a "custom designed" website.
- http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Bricks-Addons-Huge-UI-Kit-for-Web-Designers/5785183
- http://designmodo.com/square/

#One man show
With Wordpress and some design resources you don't need to hire graphic designers.

Eh. Anyway. I am really bad at giving people advice! Hope it helps - the difference between US and Sweden is huge so I don't know how easy it will be for you. In Sweden it is mega easy!

Wow, thanks for the help. You answered most of my questions. I do have some education to showcase (2 masters) but they don't relate to web design specifically. I could advertise that I'm currently employed as a web designer, and therefore a professional, but I'm not sure if I can advertise my library website. That is something I'd have to figure out personally, I guess.

One of the biggest unknowns for me is how to register/own my own (small) business, but I guess that is something I will just have to figure out. If anyone else has experience doing this in the US, I'd really appreciate it. I know some things may vary from state to state.

HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

February 25 2013 22:26 GMT

On February 26 2013 07:16 Inori wrote:
Why not start out as a simple freelancer on odesk or elance?

Are these websites? Are they reliable (in terms of payment, etc.).

I'm noob.

Deleted User 61629

1664 Posts

February 25 2013 22:32 GMT

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Kaeru

Sweden552 Posts

February 25 2013 22:43 GMT

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HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

February 25 2013 22:56 GMT

Thanks for the advice Kaeru. This is something I'm looking to start by the end of the year (hopefully), so there isn't really a fire under my feet to get going right away. But I'll come back and reference this as needed. I'm hoping to do 1 "fake" website a month starting this summer, til I have about 4-5 up. Then maybe try to get some real clients.

Anyone else have experience with this, or running a (very) small business in the US? What sort of legal things to I need to watch out for?

nath

United States1788 Posts

February 26 2013 01:05 GMT

On February 26 2013 07:56 HardlyNever wrote:
Thanks for the advice Kaeru. This is something I'm looking to start by the end of the year (hopefully), so there isn't really a fire under my feet to get going right away. But I'll come back and reference this as needed. I'm hoping to do 1 "fake" website a month starting this summer, til I have about 4-5 up. Then maybe try to get some real clients.

Anyone else have experience with this, or running a (very) small business in the US? What sort of legal things to I need to watch out for?

actually this is how i started my software and web development company, and although we also build in-house projects as our own web and mobile based businesses (to sell or to generate passive income for us), we have a steady stream of client work that pays for everything (the in-house projects' money is on top of that).

US should be even easier than kaeru's biz,
--just set up an LLC. what state are you in? in my state an LLC is $135.
--if you want to jew the tax system then set one up in Delaware or Nevada. But I am an honest hardworking person so i set it up in my state because i use things that state taxes go towards

--if you are going solo, then consider getting some work from me

it will boost your resume as well.
--even with the above opportunity, i recommend you try to build at least a small team + Show Spoiler +

(cheap/minimal for now, maybe a graphic designer to let you focus only on the actual web design/handle random logo requests for cheap, maybe outsourcing menial work, etc...if you find the right people you can leverage their time. of course someone will come in here naysaying that one point of advice but i have proven that these tactics while carrying an associated risk are worth it to execute)

--i know based on your mindset and some things you've said you will never realize that trading your time linearly for money will not lead to a wealthier future but consider that, and consider going full time freelance when you are making bank and have a small team.

User was warned for this post

HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

February 26 2013 05:43 GMT

#10

On February 26 2013 10:05 nath wrote:

Show nested quote +

--if you are going solo, then consider getting some work from me

it will boost your resume as well.
--even with the above opportunity, i recommend you try to build at least a small team + Show Spoiler +

Thanks for the advice on business; I was thinking LLC was the way to go.

Without going into too much detail, I would be pretty dumb to quit my current job. The benefits alone are worth quite a lot per year. There is nothing that absolutely excludes me from running my own business (eventually), even while working my current job. I just have to figure it out and judge whether it is worth it or not. I'm just not looking to dive in completely right now.

fire_brand

Canada1123 Posts

February 26 2013 08:02 GMT

#11

I think the best advice is just to do it. Get the site up, get the portfolio up and jump into it.

As far as economics and the like go a bit of advice. Don't sell yourself short because you're inexperienced or just starting out. If you set a precedence of working for shit it's going to stick. Find the going rate in the industry and try to charge around that. Adjusting that rate should depend on two things, the amount of changes demanded by your client compared to the work outlined in your contract/quote, and the usage of the site, how much is your work going to be viewed and how much traffic it should see. But the key is don't sell yourself short, or everyone else will as well.

The other big thing you should look into and ABSOLUTELY INSIST UPON is contracts. If you don't have a contract you're going to get cheated left, right and centre. You want a contract and you want to be able to write it yourself. You don't want a boilermaker, cover all contract, but one for the type of work your doing, the client you're doing it for, and the SPECIFIC job you're doing for them. If they want another website, they need to pay again. Look into indemnity clauses, and rights usage. You don't want to sell your work rights away, or have a company able to prevent you from using your own work on your portfolio unless it's related to pre-launch. There's tons of good resources out there to read up on it, but I learn most of it in Illustration school so I'm a little unfamiliar to where to start looking. People in the field are probably a good resource.

And the biggest thing is make sure when you're taking reference or images from a client to put in your website that there is a clause in your contract putting responsibility for that content on them. The worst thing you can do is put up previously copyrighted material, get sued, and not be able to pull it down because the company you did it for refuses. You are the author so you can be held accountable. Don't let that happen.

It sounds like you have the right plan though, so don't let anyone stop you. If it's all bonus revenue anyways then there's no fear in trying.

TLDR: Just do it, but make sure you cover yourself legally.

And, hey, if you need a graphic designer, let me know. I've done some website design work in the past, but honestly the technical aspect is too much of a logjam for me to take it regularly. The graphics are easy, the rest is just too time consuming with my limited expertise.

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