Hello everyone! These past few months, i’ve been researching tirelessly about web design: everything from design principles to hosting to SEO to security. I also have experience with HTML and CSS which has helped so much. I’ve practiced creating multiple fake websites, starting in figma then with kadence and elementor. These fake sites look pretty good imo, and my friends think they look good too (they didnt know i designed them, so no bias)
My dream is to one day be able to fully support myself and pay for school as a freelancer. I think i’m finally ready for my first client. My plan was to drive around to some cafes/restaurants in my area that dont have websites and asking if I can make one for them. I have 3 specific clients in mind. For my first client, I was thinking about severely undercharging them or even doing it for free. This way, i might get some word-of-mouth referrals or a real site to add to my portfolio at the very least.
I’m really excited to finally get off the ground here. I’m just worried that there’s some missing pieces of information that I haven’t researched yet, or some crucial technical things that I dont know about. If anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advice for me and this plan, i would appreciate it so much. Was there anything that caught you by surprise when you created your first few sites? What are some mistakes you made in the beginning? Thanks!
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Your plan is good other than the part where you said you might do the first for free/discounted. Don’t do this, there’s no need. Don’t mention to the client that they are your first one. If there’s no reason for them to know this information, then why willingly lose money?
Just make sure you have contracts in place to ensure the client doesn’t constantly request changes / cause issues, and make sure you get a large percentage of the cost up front.
Most people do this in a few stages, e.g. 40% upfront, 30% after the design stage, and then the final 30% before you hand the site over, or just 50% upfront and 50% before handover.
Just make sure you never give the client control of the website before you’ve been paid, otherwise it’s highly likely you’ll one day end up in a situation where the client just becomes unresponsive without you ever receiving full payment.
Good plan.
But, WP site is just top of the business offer. Domain registration, hosting, business mail, etc, etc. Most of the clients does not have a clue what all these means. Try to learn as much about these, before you approach the client.
I know this is against the Rule3, but I suggest you to buy one of SiteGround packages and to offer above-mentioned to potential clients.
Also, GoogleBusinessProfile is a nice add-on to your services; connecting it with WP site will pump clients’ web presence.
Success.