As a web designer, I have a personal interest in a new trend which threatens to put me and my kind out of business. That "threat" is Web Design Templates. In short they are ready-made web design products which can be used as a basis for a fast and high-quality website. You usually receive a Photoshop file (.psd), Flash file (.fla), HTML files with your tables and initial scripting already complete, fonts, sounds and anything else which may be part of the website design. A couple of years ago these templates were a small issue in the world of design. Most of them were of minimal quality and there were not all that many out there. Now some of the "big players" like BG Website Templates ( http://www.bg-website-templates.com ), are supplying spectacular designs which include 3D animated Flash, multimedia and dynamic programming for prices comparable to dinner out. Many of these templates rival even the best custom designer's work.
So how can we (the humble designer) survive'My first suggestion is to "aim high". By that I mean start targeting a "higher end" clientele. Most companies of any size will not want to have a website design which may well be found on dozens of other websites around the world. These templates, while very impressive, are still templates. They still require the knowledge and skills of a professional for them to function to their full potential. So consider promoting your customization skills to those clients who are looking for a low cost solution. You can still make a pretty profit on the website and you'll get it done much faster. Another advantage to this method is that the client has already chosen a design, so the process of "back and forth" designing is removed.
Finally, you may choose to directly promote templates on your own website. You may feel that you're cutting your own wrists, but as mentioned before, the clients who wish to use a template most likely didn't want to spend the money for your custom work anyway. Once you've saved them money on design work by selling them a template, you have a much better chance of upgrading their order with add-ons like chat rooms, help desks and newsletters. In the end you may end up coming out ahead. Whether or not our careers as designers will survive this competition remains to be seen; but in the meantime it doesn't hurt to at least become familiar with web templates. Knowing your competition is key to success.
A friend of mine, a web developer came up to me and asked if I have any idea on how to start a business online. I, a web designer for one can not believe that I'm making a business of the internet much so that I got intrigued and excited about him making an effort to start an online business. He already has a very high salary already, working as a head web developer of a very known company. So I already have an idea that my friend wouldn't quit his job anytime soon. But I'm quite happy for him for making the effort of starting his own business and earn an income online.
He was my professor back in college, having the same passion for learning, he is very successful with his career and so am I on my chosen path. He asked me, "What's the best blogging platform?'. I said wordpress, 99% of blogs are wordpress. He already have an idea on how to get started but really have no clue of the process of actually making money. I asked "What's cooking?" he said, "I went up looking at an entrepreneur magazine looking up for a business to start, then I realized I'm a web developer. There must be some way to make business out of it. Then I remembered you. You are the prof now. Can you help me?"
Of course I can. Here are some of the tips that I said to him.
* Blog about your passion if its profitable - Many people will say that, blog about your passion. Well it depends, you don't want to starve do you? You must take priority of your needs first so you can quit your job early. If you can blog about your passion and there's a market for it. Go for it. That's 2 birds in 1 stone. Know if the topic is profitable first then make a site around it. Personally, I'm a believer of delayed gratification. The first things we have to do when making a business online is to get paid and not starve. Blogging about my passion may give me the joy, but its useless to continue if I starve. What's the point of doing business and quitting your job then if you can't make a living about your passion?
* Invest in yourself - The reason why most people fail in business, especially making money online is that not many people are willing to sacrifice and spend some money to learn. Bloggers are known to be tech savvy and will do anything to get things for free. But real entrepreneurs know the value of knowledge so much that they are willing to spend time and money to attain it. I had an experience wasting 10000 pesos trying to learn PPC. Did it really went to waste? No! I learned PPC a little bit and might take more money to get a grasp on it. But I'm willing to spend to educate myself.
* Stop reading make money online blogs - The best way to make money online is to go out there and try it yourself. Shed some money if you have to. That will be your foundation. Just stop reading make money online blogs. No offense to the make money online bloggers, I know its their passion to blog about making money. But being a newbie once in this field, make money online blogs didn't really help. Its better to read SEO blogs for SEO, affiliate marketing for making money as an affiliate or self improvement blogs for your business mentality. If I have found a good make money online blogs and teach people the truth and really make money, I would gladly advertise it on my site.
* Learn SEO - This is the bread and butter of online business. Learn real SEO from keyword research to promoting a site. Stop reading make money online blogs. Learn from the real experts in SEO read SEOmoz, or ask at webmaster forums.
* Choose only 1 type of monetization - If you're going for adsense, go for it and no more. Do not put competition on your page. There is the thing we call in business "Diversification' this is true as to not put all your eggs in one basket. But it doesn't mean put all banner ads or adsense on the page that you can fit. In reality, what it means is that, don't put all your effort into 1 site. Putting thousand of ads in your site will not only make your site look desperate, it will lack the credibility for affiliate offers and direct advertisers.
* Choose a niche - Blog about a specific niche. Do not blog about anything under the sun. If you'll be monetizing the site with direct advertising, you know that these companies only want people that are viewing the ads that are related to their interest. Would you sell a guitar to a piano player? Having to blog anything without any specific topic will give advertisers the second thought of advertising with you. Its because your viewers and traffic are junk that came from different sorts of life.
* Quit your job when you're making twice as much online - This should have been my goal back then when I quit my job. It could've been a lot easier. It took me about 3 hard and sleepless months stumbling and starving to get my passive income as much as my day job and another 3 months to double it. Well its a good strategy to quit early though, for me, I had fun, if I didn't make money within this certain period of month, I'm gonna fail my parents and die hungry.
Both Gene Torrey & Jeffrey Fang are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gene Torrey has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development. Written by Gene TewksburyWebmaster/Lead Designer at Copyright (c) 2005 Blue Gel MediaThis article may be reproduced if all content, links and byline re. Gene Torrey's top article generates over 590 views. to your Favourites.
Jeffrey Fang has sinced written about articles on various topics from Infants And Toddlers, Golf Guide and Parenting. The author's web site Snoob - Web Design Blog aims to teach people about and building an .. Jeffrey Fang's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.