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Make bigger bucks offline
Right I believe I posted about making money offline a while ago but this time is different. I now have more information about it. Lately I have been looking for a job. A part-time or full time job. Anyways, in my quest for a job I started to call up and check out website design companies in my area. This led me to the following conclusion:
- The businesses are basically one person in their house.
- They do not have any formal qualifications.
- They are behind the times with their websites look and coding.
- They charge much more than those online.
After calling some up to be disappointed by the fact they were one person I decided to check their website out. Im not going to name names but these sites were terrible. They often had poor colour choice, barely any images, drop shadows all over the place and coding which still used tables. They were also charging far in excess of anything you would charge online. These guys would charge £500-750 for a simple 5 page website.
How can I get into this?
This was exactly what I was thinking. If you are going to get paid almost ten times more offline than you would online how do I get into it? Its quite simple really and it will actually get you very enthusiastic.
Register as a business
Probably the first thing you are going to need to do. You need to set up an account for your business. This means coming up with a name as well. In the UK you can get a lot of help with setting up a business from various agencies. They can tell you how to write a business plan and how to calculate your tax etc. One company which offers this help and offer up to £1000 grant for flyers, software and other expenses is Business Gateway.
Get your website up
People are not going to hire you unless you have a business website with your previous work. I would also put your pricing on the website and a contact form so people can get in touch. Other things which I noticed on the businesses I checked out was the simplicity in their writing. They really broke things down so people who don’t understand the web could understand their website and how they can get a website. This means they offered hosting with their design as well.
Get the word out
If you have a strong portfolio you shouldn’t find it hard to find work (hopefully). I believe if you go old school with your marketing then you will actually get more work. This would mean designing business cards and flyers and get posting them around the city. Drop them off in cafes and small businesses. Also try to approach small businesses asking if they would like a website. Another easy way to advertise is to get your business in the phone book. I find its best if in your name you include website design. So when people read the section in the phone book they know immediately you are a website design company.
The approach taken to get work offline is much different but its really worth the effort. If you can get one simple job a week you can be making a full time wage. I sadly won’t be getting into the designing as much as I would like. That is due to a couple of reasons with my accommodation.
13 Responses
Very useful and interesting post. I prefer to make money online, find it far simpler (just searching google etc to find opportunities to earn money).
I remember a friend trying to start an offline web design company, but contrary to your findings, he found online opportunities to be more lucrative and higher paying.
- Michael- October 18th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
I agree acopic. Its just lately people online are charging barely anything which is wrecking it for other people because they are being undercut on price. People don’t look to pay barely anything when buying online now from forums etc.
as a freelancer programmer and also an offline business owner I would say you are absolutely right. Working offline really worth. Why? Becouse someone try to find a programmer / designer online he knows how much does it cost and wont pay more for it. Offline customers are usually first time website owners so they will pay as much as you ask. IMO
I definitely think you’re right both ways you look at it. most people online are looking for something for nothing. and if your going to find someone to do work for you online you could look for days before finding someone thats actually qualified.
What you do offline is really what makes your blog succeed. That’s what separates the money makers from the pretenders. This is the most overlooked way to succeed.
I often promote my blog offline, it’s a good way to generate business online. I get hits and advertising deals from local companies who pay far more than most online companies.
What they don’t know scares them, use it to your advantage
The thing with the internet is that it is so easy to set up a website and some people assume you are a bona fide business in some posh office when in fact you are in your own living room.
There may be nothing wrong in that - if you can work from hone why not? But it is always very prudent to check things out before you buy. If someone has a rubbish website why would you go to then for web design?
And if you are going to get into the market to compete then make sure you look and are professional. Promote it in many different ways - offline and online.
Most people online are looking for something for nothing, they don’t understand really what’s involved
Some great articles here, I enjoyed reading !
Pricing for website development work seems to fluctuate dramatically but as Acopic Website Design says, £500 isn’t a lot for an entire site.
I think the difference between online prices in forums and offline prices from businesses is that the people in forums are doing work in their spare time, whereas these companies you phoned actually have to make a living.
I don’t have any formal qualifications in website design or development but a year since setting up shop there are 3 of us in an office starting to get some decent sized contracts. Everybody starts out undercharging but soon realise that to make anything of the business less than £500 for an entire website just isn’t enough. What with meetings, emails, phone calls and actually developing a site each website must take at least a few days.
Work at Home summed it up pretty well, people online are looking for something for nothing. Unfortunately the same is true offline too.
I prefer getting money online as i can have more of my private time. Although its not as stable as full time job. But sometimes, online job pay more higher than off line.
I totally agree with you. There are so many unplanned people in the industry, they do not have any knowledge and are ready to work. I think they lack professionalism in them.
£500 for a 5 page site seems fine to me. Yeah there are loads of companies who advertise a site for £199-£299 but it’s that type of offer that kills those companies. A professional web design agency will charge at least £450 per day for each developer/designer who works on a project. So 1 day to design and build a site ain’t a lot. Also, you’ve got to build in project management time - even if it’s just for a couple of meetings or phone calls. It all adds up.
I know what you’re saying about terrible design and tables etc - and I agree there is still a lot of this around - but price wise there is nothing wrong with those figures.