I refuse to compete in the hundred-dollar market and here’s why. First of all, the only reason that Bludomain and BigFolio can sell websites can sell a Flash website for a ridiculously low price is because they are selling on volume. A Flash site with a content management system will cost you at least $15,000 - often much more. But the template guys spread their costs over a hundred people instead of one. Of course, the downside to this is that 99 (or even more!) other people have an identical website!

With a template site, you may get the benefit of a cheap website, but what is the real cost of that? I have browsed many, many, many photographer’s websites, and if you put yourself in the "browsing photographers" position, as most brides are, you’ll notice that they all start to look the same.

In a highly saturated market, a good stand-out web presence can make all the difference. Custom sites will instantly stand out from competitors (from a web browsing point of view)… simply because templates are so common!

My clients have noticed a significant jump in enquiries and bookings, just from having a site that is different from 90% of the other photographer’s sites. Part of it is in the SEO, but I think a big part of it, anecdotally speaking, is that if a bride is surfing through 15 (or 30 if shes particularly obsessive :)) sites, 95% of which are bludomain sites… I guess that it has a homogenising effect in terms of the experience of the website.

And you are naive if you think that people don’t switch off if they see the same thing over and over, even if the images are different.

Websites are not just a directory of business, but are also an experience, that invoke emotional reactions. They are more like television advertising than, say, the Yellow Pages…and people wholly expect to pay for TV Advertising because it brings results. I guess if I can use an analogy with Yellow Pages listings, its like the difference between having the standard 2 line Yellow pages listing, versus the display advertising with your custom graphics and your look and feel. The display ads will always cost more (often a lot more than you think you can afford), but you get more, and the majority of the time, you get better results.

You ultimately get what you pay for with web design. And when someone next tells a photographer that they can go to istockphoto.com and get a great photo for much less, hopefully that photographer will know how web designers feel about template sites.

It turns out that it was the best thing that could have happened to me, because it freed up enough time to take on some small graphic design projects, which became more small projects, which tuned into some larger projects, until all of a sudden, here I sit 3 years later, running a business that was literally formed from the ground up with nothing, with no formal training in graphic design or programming, that is growing more every week.

I have learned so much in a small amount of time, that to look back on my old bad habits of business make me cringe. In fact, the list became 10, but I will spread it over 2 posts :). So, here are the FIRST 5 Things I have learned, that I wish I knew 3 years ago:

1. Do NOT negotiate on prices (unless there is a substantial benefit. And yes, I mean substantial.)

Many of the freelancing and career sites will be very cut and dry in their advice about setting rates and sticking to them. In my case, having a degree of flexibility, and seizing opportunities for exposure, actually allowed me to build credibility in an industry where I was a hobbyist, with lots to learn, and I had no idea what my hourly rate was or should be. I had a fair amount of ability and unrefined skill (it’s still not fully there!), but not a whole lot of formal training. So, I offered to do work that other designers would snort at, eg $400 websites, just to get my portfolio up and improve my skills. It was awesome just to make some cash with a small baby at home, doing what I love!

It worked. Really well in fact.

But working for cheap for a good reason is not what I am talking about here. I had already made a conscious decision to do a certain number of cheap projects for the exposure, and I had already built that in to my strategy. Some of those lower priced websites still bring me new clients. That is just plain smart, because for my discounted work, I was getting, and continue to get, something in return.

But, there will come a point where someone contacts you and demands that you lower your rates, but will offer absolutely nothing in return. This is a mistake I had to make at least 3 times before realising that you do not want those people as clients. I was afraid that there would be "no more work" and that any client was better than none. Neither of those fears are grounded.

In hindsight, I still felt that I was winging it, and it affected my ability to stand my ground when people tried to set the price based on what they could afford. So I accepted those projects. And, guess what? They went nowhere. I will tell you that just about every single time I was pressured into discounting, the relationship went sour down the track. I don’t do it anymore.

When it comes down to it, if I have a slow month (which I haven’t had in a year and a half), ultimately, I would rather be spending time with my kids, or learning something new, or developing my own projects, than working for less than minimum wage for someone who doesn’t respect you. There are any number of jobs where you can do that!

2. Use contracts and clear specifications

If there is one thing that I will tell you to repeat, over and over and over again, it is touse contracts and have clear specifications.  Use contracts and have clear specifications. Use contracts and have clear specifications.

Spec creep and chasing money are two of the biggest minefields in this business. I once had a 1 month project drag on for 9 months because I did not enforce the original spec and kept allowing changes to be made (and revision after revision) without reviewing the contract and the spec, or charging the client for my time. It was a complete disaster from start to finish, and needless to say, it was the catalyst for me not only upping my rates, but setting limits on what I will and won’t do as part of the payment.

There are lots of people out there who don’t understand the difference between a Flash site and a non-Flash site, and the substantial differences in costs between them. Never, ever assume that clients understand what they are getting for their money. Put it in writing.

And don’t be afraid to say "we are wandering off quote here" as soon as it starts to happen.

3. Be open and honest, but not too open or too honest

When I first started in this business, I was on a high. Everyone was my buddy, everyone was on the same page as me, and I didn’t care what people thought. I said what I wanted, when I wanted, and I made no apologies. I brought people into the fold, befriended them, confided in them, and occasionally even complained about clients on IM. People asked my opinion, and I told them honestly. I made small talk, I had even deeper conversations.

Oh, how naive I was!

Being an open book is great if you are the right kind of open book. If you use honesty and transparency well, it can benefit your business tremendously. But, there are limits.

Here are some things you don’t talk to clients about:

• Other clients
• Your Health
• Your children, beyond the basics
• Your marital problems
• Your financial situation
• Anything that can be used against you later on.

Try to keep some distance between your personal life and your work life, and definitely do not complain about other clients, no matter how tempting it is, and ESPECIALLY if they are in the same industry.

4. Be (emotionally) prepared for the hard times

There was a turning point for me where this business stopped being just "extra" cash, and started being, well, an actual business. There came a point in 2007 where I was being offered policy jobs, and was thinking of going back to the public service, when I suddenly realised that I was actually not that person anymore. I was a designer with my own little business. That was a massive shift in focus for me, and then I started thinking about it like a business.

When this mind shift occured, naturally, I started to wonder about the work, where the next job was coming from, and living invoice to invoice (something which I am still not entirely great at!). It is pretty common knowledge in all business literature that the first 2-5 years are very hard financially. The business books offer up a lot of advice on how to deal with ebbs and flows, and how to deal with cashflow (my single biggest problem and a common one for self employed folks), and how to avoid failing in those formative first few years.

What I wasn’t prepared for, however, is the massive emotional strain that business can put on you. I always knew it would be hard financially, but the emotional rollercoaster came as a huge shock to me. When the sale of a website was not just about keeping the business afloat financially, but it also determined my worth as a designer and a human being. That every success was met with extreme happiness, but every rejection being hurtful.

I used to let the mood of my day be dictated by the moods of my clients. I don’t do that anymore - well, at least I try not to. I have learned to distance "myself" the business-person and "me" the human being in a way that my mental and emotional well-being is not so entreched in the success or failure, or ups and downs, of the business. That takes practice, and I am still learning, but, be prepared for a wild ride!

5. Know when to end it

It’s easy to sell a website. I have skills that not many people can do (or at least, do well!), and eventually, even the people that suck at web design get some clients.

It is not so easy, however, to end a client relationship. I have been going through a process in the past 6 months of assessing clients that cost me the most time for the least pay, or don’t fit my future goals with the business and have been trying to gradually move away. The vast bulk of these have been US clients, who for varying reasons, can’t (or won’t) pay competitive rates with local people and even the UK. I have been taking on less and less US clients, who seem to want far too much for far too little.

It was a very hard decision to make, but it has been the right one. Knowing when to get out is as important a skill as knowing how to sell to a client in the first place. Some of the reasons I may choose to end a relationship:

Clients that:

• refuse to pay market rates
• want work-for-hire, or otherwise try to set the agenda or micromanage
• don’t respect that your time = money
• view you as replaceable
• constantly pay late
• often ask for free "5 minute" jobs, or expect anything for free.
• threaten to use their cousin’s friend’s brother, or refer to said cousin’s friend’s brother who can do it "cheaper", or threaten to go to India or find some other impressionable young guy…

……are NOT worth your time.

How you actually end it is up to you, but being able to look at your situation and realise that there are always better clients than that out there, is the single biggest leap I have made in the past year.

I enjoyed writing this list, and I actually thought of 5 more things whilst I was writing, so I might write a sequel to this! I am starting to see things growing, and getting better, and it DOES get better. But knowing some of these little things can maybe make it easier.

I have also been working on a redesign for the LinkArtist main site and blog, and was planning to launch on July 15, but like mechanics drive shitty cars, and carpenters have a list of jobs to do around their house, I have not found the time to be able to prioritise it. We are also working on a really exciting new project that will be launching soon, so …. watch this space I guess!

If you are feeling neglected by me at the moment, I apologise, elections only come around every 4 years (in theory at least) so I’ll be back on board and replying more reliably to emails in the next week to 2 weeks.

NK & Anna Rose

Jen and Tasj are 2 of Perth’s most talented photographers, and they are my friends and clients (in fact, I take the credit for introducing them - well sorta!), so it makes sense that they have decided to pair up and create their own studio. They wanted a site that was really white, no faffy bits, and I think we managed to come up with a logo and overall site concept that fits their style.

As always, there are still a few tweaks to be made, but overall I am happy with it.

Check them out at nkannarose.com.au

Aksent Photography

Kirsty approached me to create her a custom blog design, with a custom Flash slideshow. I just LOVE what Next-Gen gallery adds to Wordpress. After some customisation, we got the player to do what we wanted. Yay for Flash challenges!

Check it out at aksentphotographyblog.com

For those that don’t already know, I am not just a web designer, but I also had a previous life in the drudgerous grey cubefarm known as the public service. I thought that that was what I wanted to do, until I realised very early on in my career that it wasn’t for me. Policy was a passion, it still is in varying degrees, and the temptation to quit has hit me on at least… I dunno 70,000 occasions in the 3.5 years I have been working as a designer.

I have been going through a bit of a rut lately, working through things, pondering the direction of the business so that I don’t suddenly hit 40, realise that I am still working 14 hour days, and realise that I have wasted my life…

So, browsing today, I found this. It applies to production, but it still resonates:

“It takes a while, its going to take you a while, and that’s normal… you just have to fight your your way through it…"

“It takes a while, its going to take you a while, and that’s normal… you just have to fight your your way through it… "

And again, just for posterity:

“It takes a while, its going to take you a while, and that’s normal… you just have to fight your your way through it… "

It is always so tempting to quit when things get hard. But I watched this video, and I have to admit that I got choked up hearing those words… at just the right time.

Nothing worth doing is going to be easy. It is a series of lessons, practise, constant mistakes and errors in judgement that get us to the point where we feel like an artist, rather than a Policy Officer pretending to be a designer… or a Mum with a hobby that earns her some cash "on the side" (that’s my favourite, given that I am the main income earner :)).

But, knowing that I am not alone, when there are SO many times when it feels that way, gives me comfort.

And hopefully, it helps to inspire me to keep going with this "little web design thing", and get better at it, so that when I am 40, I look back with pride and accomplishment.

This is another site powered by Wordpress, which is valid XHTML/CSS and all that good kind of stuff It also uses the fantastic NextGen Gallery, which, in my humble opinion, should be used in every single Wordpress install.

Best of luck with your new site, Cindy!

I have a queue of work right now, and the very first (almost) finished project to come out of my head down, bum up couple of months is the redesign of Cahoots’ website.

Cahoots have a great product. They produce hard bound photo books from your digital (or scanned) images, and have great software that is really easy to use. They have a number of options, which depend on how involved you would like to be in the process - from downloading the software yourself, designing and sending the finished product through, to having a book maker produce the design and book for you. They also run workshops, which I think is a great idea for people who want to get started but are not really sure how. They also have some great opportunities for Mums who want to work from home and have a knack for design, so be sure to check them out!

This project was delivered in pretty much record time, and I am proud of the result (which, for me is a pretty big ask seeing as I am highly critical of my work!). I worked with Cahoots’ existing branding and style guide to create a fun, practical and clean design that utilises a lot of really cool features, including a Flash flipping book (after all, they sell real books and we needed to get that across), some neat javascript features, and some really cool work with the Joomla templating system.

There are still some of those inevitable "smoothing out" things to do after going live, but be sure to check it out here:

Click here to visit Cahoots

I have decided to separate my blog into 2 blogs. One business, one personal. Primarily because I found myself worrying about the implications of posting one or the other most of the time: not wanting to post too much personal stuff for fear of alienating prospective clients - and not wanting to post too much business stuff for my friends. So, I have moved all the personal blog content over to teabrennan.com, and will keep this as more of a design/business/freelance etc blog.

I have not yet skinned the new blog or really done much to it at all (I have been really busy this month), but I will relaunch with a new theme as soon as I find the time

Ok, so from here on in, business as usual.

I just upgraded this blog to use 2.5 before unleashing it on my unsuspecting clients, and from my very brief look through the dashboard and admin interface, my immediate impression is that this could well and truly take WordPress into the full-blown-CMS realm once and for all. A few designers (like me) have already been doing it for some time, obviously, but the UI of the admin panel has improved, there is an integrated image gallery, and the promise of a better WYSIWYG editor (Can we post youtube yet without hacks??)…well… what a great development this is.

As I move into the premium theme development market, I am hoping to create templates that will fully harness the power of Wordpress as a CMS, and cater for specific industries.

First up is a photography blog that utilises the built in media gallery. I am excited about this

The beauty of this app is that it allows you to queue posts, draft posts and edit everything offline.

I am terrible lately at updating my blog, mostly because the mental effort (shyeah, I know…) required to open my browser, be online, save drafts, etc, becomes too cumbersome. Yeah, my life is so hard.

Anyway, check it out!

I had a good feeling about Tasj from the very first time we met, and it resulted in a project that I am really, really proud of, and I hope brings Tasj more wonderful clients that appreciate her beautiful photography!

As an aside, there really is nothing that makes me happier, than having clients that just… trust me… to do what I think is right for them and their business. It is a tremendous honour, and not something I take lightly. Trust in your designer not only helps the project move a whole lot quicker and MUCH more smoothly, but it also means that your designer will walk to the ends of the earth for you Which is why its so important to find a designer that GETS you.

I learned a lot about my own creative process with this project, and realised that half of the battle is visualising the right solution. The actual designing and coding is just one part of it, but a lot of the time spent on a project is going into a sort of contemplation period, where I think about the client, look at their work, get a sense of what they’re about, and producing a site that not only differentiates them on the web, but also makes them feel genuinely invested and excited about the result. I think this is a part that many people take for granted, or somehow think that a design should be knocked together in Photoshop in 4 hours max… its much, much more than that — and I am getting much more confident in knowing that my vision, 9 times out of 10, pans out

Anyway, Tasj has been the catalyst for this realisation, that I am actually really good at what I do, and I LOVE pushing myself to do better each time. And that’s pretty awesome, coming from the laziest person on the planet!

This site is powered 100% by Wordpress (the geeks will appreciate it), with Tasj having fully updateable galleries, integration between her site content and her blog, and some nifty little tricks thrown in for good measure (refresh the home page a few times and you’ll see that the background image changes every time :))

Anyway, its been an absolute pleasure working with Tasj, and we wish her well, and look forward to her glowing testimonial

Check out the page HERE.