INTRODUCTION (excerpt)

Everyday, thousands of people think about starting their own business so they can break away from the daily drudgery of working for someone else or so they can supplement their income while working at home. Everyday, someone realizes that they could use the Internet to start a home-based business. And everyday, these people do nothing but dream.

This book was written for those of you who are tired of dreaming and are ready to build a home-based website design business. You may be employed full-time, or part-time, or you may already be staying at home. Whatever your situation, you want to work at home and do something that you enjoy.

You need a place to begin - a reference that gives you the information you need in language you can understand.

This book is just what you need. It gives an insider's view of topics such as setting up the business end of things, getting (and keeping) clients, and managing the website design. This book will also help you avoid the common problems and mistakes that arise with a new business. Many of the lessons in this book were learned the hard way. We have tried to give you the benefit of our experience to make your business run smoothly.

This book will not teach you website design, HTML, graphic design, search engine positioning, or copywriting. There are hundreds of books that do cover these topics and we have assumed that anyone who is seriously considering starting a website design business already has at least some background in these areas.

This book will teach you how to set up and operate your website design business, how to get work, and how to design more effectively. It will also provide references and tools to help you manage your business and your work...

Chapter 1 (excerpt) - IS THERE REALLY A MARKET FOR DESIGNERS?

Despite fluctuations in world and national economies, the number of Internet users continues to increase at a phenomenal rate. And along with the increase in the number of users comes a corresponding increase in Internet sales. This growth fuels a need for more websites.

Cell phones with Internet access, personal digital assistants, laptops, and Palm Pilots are becoming more common every day. This trend shows no sign of letting up. People like the Internet. They want to use it. As the demand for Internet access increases, so does the demand for websites - and for website designers.

More and more people are using the Internet to find local services. The younger these people are, the more likely they are to use the Internet to fulfill their needs. And more and more businesses are getting websites because they realize that it gives their customers another way to contact them for products and services.

The Internet is not just a passing fad. It is not going to go away. It has become a part of our culture and a part of our economy.

The market for website designers is there. And the demand grows every day...

Chapter 6 (excerpt)- NICHE MARKETING - THE SECRET TO SUCCESS

Niche marketing means focusing your services and advertisements on a very specific group in the marketplace. Understanding niche marketing is crucial to your success as a website designer.

If we were to ask you who you plan to sell you services to, you would probably say, "Anyone."

And you would be wrong.

"Anyone" is not your market. It is unlikely that you will sell website design services to any of the following groups:

• Children.
• Retired couples.
• People who don't want websites.
• Businesses with no advertising budgets.
• Businesses that already have good websites.

You need to figure out who does buy websites so that you can promote and market your services effectively.

The secret to your success as a website designer is to identify specific niches in the marketplace and to market directly to them and only to them.

Now you need to find out who they are. Who is your market? Ask yourself the following questions:

• Who buys websites?
• Why do they buy?
• What do they want?
• What do they need?

Getting the answer to these questions can be a long and painful process for the new business owner. Fortunately, we have already been through this process and we can help you identify your niche market...

CHAPTER 11 (excerpt) - MANAGING THE JOB

When you make a website to put your own vacation pictures online, you can work at your own pace, stop half way through, change your mind and start over, and generally do just about anything you want.

When you are being paid to make a website, you need to use a much more structured approach. You need to understand the client's wants and needs so that you can provide a realistic cost quote and a schedule. The client will not want you to stop and start over, and as a service provider, you will not want to do this either.

The following tasks represent the key milestones in the management of a website design project. One way or another, they all need to be done. It doesn't matter how big or how small the job is, each of the following steps is critical to doing the job right. At first glance the list of things you need to do may seem a little overwhelming, but as long as you walk through the list one step at a time, things will go smoothly...

CHAPTER 12 (excerpt) - MANAGING THE DESIGN

When new designers start a website design, they typically begin by laying out the major functional blocks of the home page or by doing a color and graphic layout.

But designing a website is just the same as building a house. You have to start with the foundation and work up. If the foundation isn't solid, you will have to go back and reinforce it later on. If the foundation isn't the right shape, then the final form of the house will not be what you need. Either way, you will have to go back and fix it. Trying to fix a foundation after it has a house built on top of it is an expensive and time consuming process. A website is the same way.

There are steps that you should follow whenever you design a website. It doesn't matter how big or how small the site is, the steps are always the same.

This is how the professionals do it. This is how you should do it too.