Update: Please Digg this post. Thanks.
The other day I wrote a post about someone I know who runs a profitable web design company but knows very little about web design. She’s successful because she knows how to promote her company really well. And while I don’t know how she promotes her company, I do know the things that I’ve done to promote myself as a freelancer.
1. Start A Blog
Get your own domain name, install WordPress, and write good content about web design. Not only will it show potential clients that you know what you’re talking about but it will also let them get to know you as a person. A blog is a great way to improve your search engine rankings and it can double as a portfolio too. Clients always ask to see my portfolio (which isn’t …
Creating a website isn’t that hard. I know someone who knows very little HTML, very little CSS, doesn’t know how to use Dreamweaver, Fireworks, or Photoshop but has a profitable web design company with 3 employees and has created over 100 websites. That’s amazing.
Her sites all use tables, the design isn’t great, her content management system is a mess, and she works a million hours a week but she knows how to promote her company. And that’s what makes all the difference.
Moral of the story: Learn how to promote yourself and you’ll get business no matter how good you are.
SXSW is March 9th – 13th and I’m not gonna miss it this time.
The panels haven’t been decided yet but you can review the 173 panel proposals and vote for your 10 favorite.
Some of the panels I’ve picked (and I recommend you pick) include:
Since I’ve never been to SXSW I’m a little unsure of what hotel to stay at and how I should get there. Of you Refresh Phoenix people who’s going? I know James is.
I’ve been trying to teach myself PHP lately and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. The first thing I tried to make was a form that had 5 fields and could upload files to my server. It took a little while but I was able to figure it out and get it just how I wanted. Before this the only thing I had ever done in PHP was simple edits in WordPress and a contact form so this was slightly more difficult but still pretty basic PHP.
Then I wanted to use a form to enter information to a database and retrieve it later on. This took longer and I couldn’t have done it without some very handy PHP Tutorials but I finally figured it out. The problem with …
Earlier today I shared a list of articles that I’ve found to be very helpful. But one of the most helpful sites I’ve ever come across is SitePoint. It has a ton of excellent articles, blogs, and forums covering every aspect of web design. It’s a place where the graphic designer, programmer, and project manager can all go to find helpful information.
The content is updated regularly and there’s always atleast a few hundred forum members online. If you have a question chances are it’s already been answered somewhere on SitePoint and if it hasn’t then the forum members are sure to answer it.
Recently my favorite place to hang out on SitePoint has been the SitePoint Marketplace. SitePoint describes the Marketplace as “a community trading place for web sites, domain names, web site templates and more.” The Marketplace has …