How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Web Site Design Business

by Charlotte Evans, Bruce C. Brown

With CDROM

According to a 2007 survey by Netcraft, there are more than 108 million Web sites worldwide. Every Web site needs to be designed. The Pricing & Ethical Guidelines Handbook published by the Graphic Arts Guild reports that the average cost of designing a Web site for a small corporation can range from $7,750 to $15,000. It is incredibly easy to see the enormous profit potential.

Web design businesses can be run part- or full-time and can easily be started in your own home. As such, they are one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet economy. This book will teach you all you need to know about getting your own Web site design business started in the minimum amount of time.

Here is the manual you need to cash in on this highly profitable segment of the industry. This book is a comprehensive and detailed study of the business side of Web site design. It should be studied by anyone investigating the opportunities of opening a Web design business and will arm you with everything you need, including sample business forms, contracts, worksheets and checklists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations, plans and layouts, and dozens of other valuable, time-saving tools that no entrepreneur should be without.

While providing detailed instructions and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, drawing up a winning business plan (the Companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan that can be used in MS Word), buying (and selling) a Web design store, pricing formulas, sales planning, tracking competitors, bookkeeping, media planning, pricing, copy writing, hiring and firing employees, motivating workers, managing and training employees, accounting procedures, successful budgeting, and profit planning development.

By reading this book, you will become knowledgeable about basic cost control systems, retail math and pricing issues, Web site plans and diagrams, software and equipment layout and planning, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, IRS reporting requirements, customer service, direct sales, monthly profit and loss statements, tax preparation, public relations, general management skills, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, and low cost internal marketing ideas, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines.

The manual delivers literally hundreds of innovative ways to streamline your business. Learn new ways to make your operation run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. Business owners will appreciate this valuable resource and reference it in their daily activities as a source for ready-to-use forms, Web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied. The Companion CD-ROM contains all the forms in the book, as well as a sample business plan you can adapt for your own use. 

386 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2008

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a decent primer on starting and running a profitable web design business. It contains very little about the technology and tools of web design, because its purpose is to teach someone who already knows web design the business skills they need to profit. Although the text is mostly dry and not entertaining, it does present good business principles, and each chapter ends with a helpful summary of key points and action items.

The main idea is that a web design skills aren't enough; you need marketing and customer service skills to create the web presence that clients need. The book includes tips for client presentations, client interviews, and being personable. A client's website is an extension of their business, so to properly design their site, you need to understand their business, and market it through their site.

The book advises that that your business be a one-stop shop for your clients, providing everything they need for their web presence: website, blog, graphic design, SEO, e-commerce, etc. If you don't offer those services yourself, partner with those who do. By offering the complete package, you provide better customer service, and create multiple revenue streams for your business.

My favorite chapter was 17, which contains 51 pages of case studies of real-world successful web design firms, sized from a single employee to dozens. There's also a CD full of business plans, worksheets, and checklists for design services, marketing, and advertising.

Disclaimer: this is the first web design business book I've read, so I don't have anything to compare it to. Despite its 2009 publish date, the book seemed dated. Maybe it just seemed that way because the advice was mostly generic and not technology-specific. There were parts that seemed to be recycled from older web design business books, or even non-tech business books.

Notes

Design
• Visit the sites of your client's competitors to get ideas for the client's site.
• Design client sites based on their logo, image, and brochures.
• Design client sites to improve the client's business and meet their goals.

Contracts
• Include ownership of your intellectual property in your contracts.
• Separate the initial design from ongoing maintenance (contract).
• Include the right to place your logo and name on the client's site, and use their site in your portfolio.

Client relations
• Maintain strong relationships with current clients and prospects.
• Become well known in the community by participating in chambers of commerce and nonprofits.
• Empower users to maintain their sites.
• Make every client think you work only for them.
• Be available and over-communicate your progress.

Pricing
• Use 3rd party payment processors like PayPal and Google Checkout until you have enough sales to justify having a merchant account.
• Clients prefer a fixed project fee. Charge hourly for maintenance and invoice monthly.
• Offer packages of common services.
• Avoid bottom-feeders (cheap clients).

Marketing
• Include calls to action in your ads.
• Create a flagship portfolio project to showcase to potential clients. Create it at a discount or pro bono if necessary (for a nonprofit or networking group).

Business administration
• Create strategic partnerships with businesses that serve the same clients, but are not competitors, such as graphic design, advertising, marketing.
• Outsource to keep overhead low.
• Spend time and money on good training rather than trying to teach yourself.
• Become a one-stop shop by partnering with writers, photographers, PR pros, graphic designers, SEO experts, etc. Mark up these outsourced services.
• Act like a big, professional company in appearance and behavior.

Rule of Thirds
• 1/3 overhead: salaries, expenses
• 1/3 direct production: billable labor (design, development, marketing)
• 1/3 profit

PPC (pay per click)
• target ready-to-buy customers
• advertise and link to one specific product or service
• position #1 is usually not worth the price
• use geographic targeting

Pricing rate recommendations
• graphic design: $80/hr
• site design: $40/hr
• basic site: $400-2000
• SEO: $250-500
• blogs: $300-1200
• PPC: $300+

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read about 50 pages of the book and then skimmed over the rest. I was very unimpressed with the book. I'm a seasoned designer though so most of the information was common sense to me. I would recommend this book to beginners to design and business who are considering getting into this field. The Author i felt though wasn't very experienced and most likely doesn't run a studio with employees. So after a brief read i stopped.