Why can't I find any web design work?

ballooba.com · 12-09-2002 7:33pm #1

Hi,
I've recently set up a domain in order to sell my design services. I've made all the preparations and written some content mangement software but apart from two clients which I had prior to setting up the domain I have got no new work. I have advertised on freelance.ie but got no replies and no jobs which would suit me (part time / nixers). Could anyone possibly advise me on any other channels I could pursue? My website is www.ballooba.com and e-mail is ballooba@ballooba.com any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Terminator · 13-09-2002 9:14am

Have you tried registering with the search engines? You're nowhere on Google

logic1 · 13-09-2002 9:25am

Well http://www.www.ie isn't up and http://ballooba.com/rebel/ isn't very good. Not a great portfolio by any means.

Your own site isn't impressive either.

Step 1: Do a better site.

Step 2: Build a bigger portfolio, even if you have to do sites cheaper than normal or charity sites.

Remember at the moment the amount of idle web designers far outweighs the demand so to get work you have to be either better than alot of the others or have some people in the indistry do you favours.

.logic.

yossarin · 13-09-2002 9:50am

<rant>
you might want to rethink that "recommended browser" idea that you have on www.ballooba.com
its a pet peeve, but not all of us are willing to download the newest version of IE just 'cos you didn't feel like designing your site with the oldest, cráppiest version of mozilla or whatever in mind.
some of us don't even run windows :eek:
what are we to do ?
</rant>

also, stop referring to company work using pronouns -
"I decided to motivate myself ..." etc.
don't even use terms like "we at ballooba..." etc.

it looks unprofessional!
say things like "ballooba is involved with", "ballooba works in", etc. your company is an entity in its own right. you just happen to work for it.

TBH, the text on your site makes you look like (and I'm fishing here

) a 16 year old with an attitude and an copy of dreamweaver. I was that person once myself.

Never never never , describe any old work as "rubbish" ! old clients will keep your company alive in hard times.

thats about it. you seem to have some design skills, but you are shooting yourself in the foot by making your company an extension of your personality instead of a reputable buisness.

hope i didn't offend, advice was freely given and well meant

yoss

Dave · 13-09-2002 10:11am

Make a better site.

Do a bigger portfolio. Even if they are phantom sites or whatever. The more websites you have under your belt the better.

mofu · 13-09-2002 10:40am

I might be wrong, but I dont think there is much money in webdesign anymore. Correct me if im wrong

Mr E · 13-09-2002 11:09am

People aren't going to come to you. You have to go to them.

Find companies/people that don't have websites
Approach them with a business plan (shows you have initiative)
Tell them why they need a website
Tell them the benefits of having a website
Show them your portfolio (when you have one! - follow Dave's advice - dummy up some websites for non existant companies)

... and take it from there. It worked for me when I was temporarily self employed. If I'm ever out of full time employment, thats what I'd do again.

Sure, its a bit more work, but it reaps rewards. Be professional, and go looking. Its not going to land in your lap.

Hope that helps,
Dave.

Gavin · 13-09-2002 12:19pm

Your best bet at the moment is word of mouth.

Don't just learn html/dreamweaver whatever.

A webdesigner nowadays really needs to know html/sql/css/serverside scripting perl,php/javascript.

Knowing how to maintain apache, or whatever your chosen web server is, is also pretty much a must.

Take the advice of yossarin and redo your current website. Adopt a more professional tone. Consider setting yourself up as a sole trader/ltd company if you are serious about it.

Gav

mofu · 13-09-2002 12:56pm

yeah, I agree totally with verb.:)

Mr E · 13-09-2002 1:59pm

Yep... some rework needs to be done.

A tip - to say you don't do certain browsers is a big no-no. If you aren't going to support a certain browser, then don't boast about it!

- Dave.

ballooba.com · 13-09-2002 2:50pm

Thanks to all those who replied.

All of the above was very helpful, especially the feedback on the site.

Think I'll look at the wording of the site again and then think about advertising it.

Another problem with the portfolio is I think the only commercial site their at the moment is gone bust

. Not the best endorsement.

Thanks again for the help.

P.s. No offence to even the harshest comments above. Negative feedback is better than no feedback and tells me what I need to work on.

peterd · 13-09-2002 3:04pm

I've never found a web site that nessisary for a web designer unless he/she is well-known in the industry. I believe that the only people who look at designer web sites, are your competitors and yourseelf. Use your own web site as a starting point for building up a portfolio.

You will get 99% of your clients from offline sales, going out and meeting with them. Don't buy a domain and hope for emails to come in, it won't happen. There are things that are suitable for selling on the web, web design is not one of them.

mofu · 13-09-2002 6:12pm

Hey guys,
I have just designed a site in the last hour and I would like you to tell me what you think. If you thinks its the crappest u have ever seen, please say. I might be a bit dull but I can still work on it if u thinks its ok.
http://www.freewebs.com/mmackenzie/dd/index.htm
thanks

Dun · 13-09-2002 7:05pm

Originally posted by mofu
Hey guys,
I have just designed a site in the last hour and I would like you to tell me what you think. If you thinks its the crappest u have ever seen, please say. I might be a bit dull but I can still work on it if u thinks its ok.
http://www.freewebs.com/mmackenzie/dd/index.htm
thanks

I think it looks quite nice, but when maximised at 1024x768 the table looks a bit lonely sitting up in the corner with whitespace to the right and down below. Perhaps centring it on the page or fixing the width to the page rather than pixels might help?

Apart from that the only gripe I have is the scrolling text - I don't like that at all on any web site. Maybe others agree but I think it never looks nice. Plus it distracts from the rest of the page (was that your intent, maybe?

).

Plus you don't really need to say that it was designed by Dynamic Designs cause that's pretty obvious. Just the copyright notice. By the way, how did you get copyright 2002-2004? You can't copyright something in a year that hasn't taken place yet

mofu · 13-09-2002 8:29pm

ops, I will change it;) Thanks for the feedback, its really appreciated, anyone else got comments?
Anyway thanks again.

peterd · 13-09-2002 8:53pm

I think you need a logo or header image for the top of the page, otherwise it looks quite bland.

mofu · 13-09-2002 9:36pm

yeah, I am planing on making one, I have removed the scroll bar now. I already have a logo in mind that I will make. Thanks

madyoke · 14-09-2002 5:33pm

looking at these sites just reminds me how beautiful my creations are

http://homepage.eircom.net/~yoyoyo/jerk2/

i tink im great. so i do.

mneylon · 14-09-2002 5:48pm

Originally posted by ballooba.com
Hi,
I've recently set up a domain in order to sell my design services. I've made all the preparations and written some content mangement software but apart from two clients which I had prior to setting up the domain I have got no new work.

I'm going to be harsh - coz I really hate popups

1. Spellcheck.
2. Reword
3. Submit to search engines after preparing it properly
4. Follow other people's advice

You say: "Ballooba Design is where you can find out about the design and hosting services offered by ballooba.com "
1. It's a pointless statement.
2. You don't mention anything about hosting on that really annoying popup window.

the contact details page:
"You will now find my contact details on the left of the screen. You may find it hard to reach me by telephone but if you fail to reach me you can leave a voicemail and I will call you back as soon as is possible. I chaeck my e-mail regularly and text messages are always a good mode of communication."
To start with it's displaying on the right. Secondly - nobody wants to read all that text. Just give them the information they need.. I'm sure they're intelligent enough to work it all out.

nahdoic · 17-09-2002 8:47pm

Originally posted by peterd
I've never found a web site that nessisary for a web designer unless he/she is well-known in the industry. I believe that the only people who look at designer web sites, are your competitors and yourseelf. Use your own web site as a starting point for building up a portfolio.

You will get 99% of your clients from offline sales, going out and meeting with them. Don't buy a domain and hope for emails to come in, it won't happen. There are things that are suitable for selling on the web, web design is not one of them.

I'd have to 100% agree with that. I went for 2 years getting clients without my own website. I got tired of clients asking for my website when I was offering my services, so I just threw up one in a day. Since setting one up I have gotten a total of zero leads from the website, and from the search engine key words being used, you can tell it's just other web developers looking at your site.

As petered said, what the website is extremely useful for is your portfolio and contact details. After you get clients interested they will always want to check out your portfolio on-line, and if they lose your contact details they can just find them on your site. Very handy.

Word of Mouth is fantastic in this business, look after your clients and they'll look after you, but if you don't have any real clients at the moment it isn't much good.

So go out and scout out companies in your local area. Ring them up. Find out how their business operates and then identify areas where you think a website could help increase their competitiveness. Then go back and present them with a proposal, of course they'll try to brush you off, but I've personally found managers don't mind persistence once you're extremely polite, honest, up-front and courteous at all times.

Always, always look at it from the managers point of view. That isn't esay to do. But it's essential. Think about his main worries usually it's the lack of time and money. And you're trying to cost him money and take up his time setting up a website!? But if you show him how you can save so many hours each week and increase efficiency interacting with his customers ....

oh but never ever speak a bad word about anyone. if their current system or webste is complete and other sh*ite. don't say that! compliment them on the good features of it, and then suggest ways that they will be able to get more out of it. if you're just going to rubbish work that they've gotten done before then don't bother picking up the phone.

Remember there's only one way to get a person to do something, and that's if they want to.

Show a person what they want and they'll move heaven and earth to get it.

Why can't I find any web design work?

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