How can I compete?

Wow, so sad… :pensive:

So what do you do now, if I may ask?

I’ve moved into various editing roles, including here at SP. I still have web clients, but not taking on much new stuff in that regard. I actually really enjoy web design as a hobby, and have a few personal projects on the go, too. But enough about me. :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, if the great Ralph has fallen by the wayside because of technology becoming a cheap commodity, then that doesn’t paint a very pretty picture for me either!

(BTW, thanks for steering this thread from “flogging and lecturing” to addressing my concerns in the OP.)

So what should I do? Is all of this supposed to just be for fun like model airplanes?

Your story doesn’t exactly make me want to kick it into high gear and hurry up and learn RWD and JavaScript like others encourage me to.

Maybe I should go become a plumber? :confused:

Only if you really enjoy dealing with crap :smile:

Seriously though, I got out of the freelance business many years ago because I predicted it would go this route. In fact, the only freelance I do is specialty projects that are heavy in programming (usually backend) and are completely custom.

My day time job is working for an Insurance company, building their flagship product they use to service their agents/insureds. They pay me the salary I feel I’m worth and provide a great deal of benefits, all the while, I get to learn new technologies, skillsets, and do the occasional freelance job (when I feel motivated).

I’m not saying there isn’t a market, but that market is overly saturated and it will continue to go that way. I’d highly recommend either finding a niche that isn’t being catered to, or look at getting into a consulting company where they take on clients and have their team perform the changes/upgrade/whatever. It would at least let you continue to work in the web development field and they usually have good opportunities for self improvement.

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^ What he said. I can’t really add a lot to that. :slight_smile:

Edit: Well, I don’t want to give the impression that there isn’t a role for freelancers. There certainly is, but it’s what you are offering that counts. I’m mainly saying that the market for low-hanging fruit—the most basic mom/pop sites that are essentially online brochures, mostly HTML and CSS—is dead.

The CMS market still seems to be strong, and both agencies and freelancers are still building sophisticated, custom sites for those who need something more than Squarespace, WordPress.com etc. can provide. It takes a fair bit of skill and dedication to cater to that market, though.

@cpradio and @ralphm,

What about one of my ideas from a few weeks ago…

Build a responsive website that allows people to order and pay for food from local restaurants? (Not one of these clearing-house sites, but a custom web app which would display pictures and a menu of all food, allow for orders to be placed and paid for, and a text message when the food is ready to pick up.)

I would like to believe that interactive, process-driven, and value-added web apps like that would be hot. (And that is what I have spent most of my career helping to build - systems that DO stuff versus sit there and look pretty!)

Basically what I am describing is similar to a mobile app, but just using a RWD/web-app to deliver action and value.

Sounds like a custom job that would need a specialist, indeed. Although there are pretty much free solutions for creating apps.

You need to do more than believe, though. Ideally, the market needs to be tested and all that, to avoid wasting time and money.

IIRC it was suggested you contact local businesses to get a sense of the possible demand for such a site / app.

How did that go, did many express possible interest?

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You are on an up-hill battle with that one. I’ve worked on POS (point of sale) systems before they are not fun to integrate with and many are closed source. So that means each business will have to store their menus twice (not all that convenient for them).

Then you have the cost of hosting a separate system when you are still paying licensing fees for your current POS and so forth.

I haven’t even mentioned that systems like that, pretty much exist, but most do not buy it as it is not affordable to them (and those systems integrate with their POS system). POS is a tough area to get into and requires stringent policies on security, customer data collection, etc. You are talking about having a lot of data potentially floating around that if breached, could earn you a spot in very hot water and a hefty fine to go along with it.

If you really want to get into POS, develop a usable system with a flexible backend, then sell it and yourself to a company that runs the POS systems in your local area. Go to the company, not each business. As they would likely buy into it better than each mom and pop shop. Advertise the crap out of your flexible backend, showing them that it can interface with their existing data store, thus 1 data store to rule it all.

Hi Mikey,

I do understand your feeling of distress regarding the CMS wave that’s all over, however, I don’t think you should discredit it. I think you should take some time and learn one and start building from there. I have learned some Drupal (difficult at the start, easier with time…), delved in Wordpress a bit and majority of the work I have sold has been with GetSimple. All of these involve creating custom themes, which is what you like and still is the quality work you take pride in.

The truth is, if a client wants different work from another shop/freelancer or wants you to redesign gain later, this is going to be way easier to get all the data than sifting through HTML files. I am not a pro - I am a freelancer like yourself. My advice is try to see the light in the situation and don’t swim against the current. You can still compete, many small businesses are looking for this sort of work. While it’s true cheaper companies out there get there attention, you are here and the overseas companies are over there.

Cheers!

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Hi Mikey,

I’m in a similar position. I’m currently working as a freelance web developer with more of a coding strong hold than design but recently getting more into illustrator for logos and layouts.

I provide hosting to my clients but I’m looking to team up with a designer and then I can focus more on the frameworks / coding.

Let me know if you’d like to discuss this further and we can see what we can do :slight_smile:

Good luck and look forward to hearing back from you

Hi there,

You know that you have a business that can potentially compete with others, right? One of the things that you should not ignore is haiving your own website with a reliable hosting. I suggest that if you have limited budget right now, go with Hostgator and they have a 1 month trial for just $0.01. You need this to boost your business and made your online presence known.

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When you provide solutions for clients and expect compensation you’re a professional.

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Fair enough. What I meant was I am not an expert yet, which is an aspect I attribute to being a professional. :stuck_out_tongue: But I do recognize that there is a difference between expert skill and professionalism. Cheers!

Well you might not be a very good professional but you’re still a professional.

You’ve got the right message in mind, so you need to bring it through to your prospects. A website has to sell, not just look good and just sit there doing nothing costing the business owner money. If you know what kind of website sells, then sell this idea to local businesses that you want to work for. It doesn’t matter how you do it, you can use WordPress and free themes and plugins, but mold it into a website that works for your client.

I think while your design skills are relevant and you need to work on improving them as much as possible, it is not the key issue.

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Welcome to the information age.

Ive had my website designed for $9k in 2008, from scratch.

Now…7 years later, I need to revamp it, by using the same wording but completely different design, stock photos, and making it mobile friendly…and the cost is again $9k.

Mobile friendly sites was not a concern in 2008. Technology moves very fast…and you must also. This is the new world, and you need to improve your skills, and hone in on servicing a certain industry, and specializing in that industry, instead of being all over the place.

If you learn the industry buzz words, you will seem very knowledgeable, your clients will choose to work with you instead of your competition, because you speak their industry language. this is key to success.

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I sincerely believe you should focus your efforts on design, and getting good at photoshop. You KNOW what people want in designs (I think). You’ve seen what sells. You’ve done research on this. You know what clients expect / want.

Interesting suggestion.

I want to believe that “Content is (still) King”, but in this high-speed and superficial world in which we live, it seems like people want “Style over substance”.

And, ironically, that is a lot of what I am trying to steer people away from online!

What does it matter if you have a pixel-perfect, air-brushed website if…

  • It look identical to 20 other similar businesses in different geographical markets?

  • I doesn’t rank on page #1 on Google?

  • It doesn’t lead to increased traffic and ultimately sales?

  • Or it is “pretty”, but performs poorly on a mobile device, and so you have a bounce rate of 90% because no one has the patience for your website?

Photoshop can’t fix those issues…

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