STARTING YR CAREER FREE WEB PA

by TORTORELLA,NEIL

• ISBN13: 9781581158595
• ISBN10: 1581158599
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2011-09-17
• Publisher: FRWHEEL

Summary

Break out of the cubicle and gain the business savvy you need to launch your own freelance web design business with Starting Your Career as a Freelance Web Designer! Jam-packed with the practical know-how needed for success, this book contains the wisdom, experience, and sage advice of numerous freelance web designers, noted industry authorities, and business leaders. Readers will learn what it takes to be a successful freelancer, how to draft a solid business plan, negotiate contracts, manage time and money, deal with taxes, manage projects and clients, determine rates, and create winning proposals. Starting Your Career as a Freelance Web Designer is destined to be a book that readers will want to keep close at hand and reference often as they build their freelance businesses and prosper in their new career.

Author Biography

Neil Tortorella has more than thirty years of experience as award-winning graphic designer, writer, and marketing consultant. He operates his own design and marketing consulting practice, Tortorella Design, is a cofounder and management team member of CreativeLatitude.com, and is a contributing writer for How magazine.

Table of Contents

Getting Starting and Laying Your Founder	p. 1
What Does It Take to Be a Successful Freelance Web Designer?	p. 3
The Freelance Life	p. 4
A Day in the Life of a Freelancer	p. 6
Traits of a Successful Freelancer	p. 7
It Takes More than Talent	p. 10
Do You Have What It Takes? A Self-Assessment and SWOT Analysis	p. 14
Education and Work Experience	p. 21
Design School and Degrees: Do You Need Them?	p. 22
Colleges, Universities, and Art and Trade Schools	p. 23
Other Education Options	p. 24
Other Technologies	p. 26
It Takes More than Talent and Technical Skills	p. 29
Crafting Your Business Plan	p. 35
Preparing to Write Plan	p. 37
The Elements of a Solid Business Plan	p. 38
Offices, Location, and Leases	p. 53
Home Offices	p. 53
Working from an Outside Office	p. 55
Office Leases	p. 56
Equipment, Furniture, and Supplies	p. 57
Interior Design	p. 60
Business Forms	p. 61
Other Useful Forms	p. 64
Figuring Your Rates and Billing Method	p. 67
Billing by the Hour	p. 67
Project-Based Billing	p. 70
Retainers	p. 73
Your Trusted Business Advisors	p. 77
Accountant	p. 78
Attorney	p. 80
Insurance Agent or Broker	p. 82
Business Banker	p. 83
Dealing with Taxes	p. 87
Obtaining on Employer Identification Number (EIN)	p. 90
Planning for Income Taxes	p. 91
Tips for (Relatively) Painless Taxes	p. 92
Self-Employment Tax	p. 97
Sales Taxes	p. 98
Legalities	p. 101
Understanding Contracts and Other Legal Issues	p. 101
Understanding Copyright	p. 109
The Complexity of Copying and Web Design	p. 112
Business Insurances-What You Need	p. 113
Health Insurance	p. 113
Life Insurance	p. 114
General and Professional Liability Insurances	p. 115
Business Interruption Insurance	p. 116
Disability Insurance	p. 116
Home-Based Business Insurance	p. 117
Special Insurance for Web Designers	p. 117
Your Portfolio	p. 117
Into Action	p. 119
Marketing and Self-Promotion: Planning, Tools, Tactics, and Techniques	p. 121
Finding and Developing A Niche	p. 124
Creating and Implementing Your Marketing Plan	p. 128
Marketing Budget, Calender, and Tracking	p. 143
Sample Marketing Plan	p. 144
Keeping Up Momentum	p. 153
Your Website and Portfolio	p. 155
Getting Ready to Build Your Site	p. 155
Organizing Your Content	p. 156
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)	p. 157
Usability and Testing	p. 159
Creating A Killer Portfolio-On-and Off-line	p. 160
Getting the Work You Want	p. 162
Showing Work from a Previous Employer	p. 163
Presenting Your Work-Off-line	p. 163
Sales, Proposals, and Presentations	p. 165
Qualifying Prospects	p. 166
Consultative Sales vs. Traditional Sales	p. 169
Finding Suspects and Prospects	p. 171
Building Prospect Relationships	p. 174
Crafting Your Proposal	p. 177
Presentations	p. 183
Project Management	p. 189
Development Process	p. 190
Time Tracking	p. 193
Maintaining Clear Communications	p. 194
Project Management Software	p. 195
After the Project	p. 199
When You Don't Get Paid	p. 201
Generating Referrals	p. 203
Tantalizing Testimonials	p. 207
Growing Your Freelance Business	p. 211
Hiring Employees	p. 213
Delegation and Managing People	p. 214
Planning for Growth	p. 215
Balancing Your Professional and Personal Lies	p. 219
Money Management for Freelancers	p. 221
Money Management Tips	p. 222
Plan for Retirement or Die at Your Keyboard	p. 226
A Closing Word	p. 228
	p. 229
Executive Summary	p. 229
Current Situation	p. 230
Project Goals	p. 230
Audience	p. 230
Competition	p. 232
Site Design and Process	p. 233
Recommendations	p. 234
Estimated Project Fees and Reimbursements	p. 235
Billing, Copyright, and Schedule 236
Conclusion	p. 236
Company Overview	p. 236
Services	p. 237
Selected Bibliography and Business Books for Every Freelance Web Designer's Library	p. 238
	p. 238
General Business	p. 238
Design Related	p. 239
Freelance Related	p. 239
Marketing	p. 239
Contact Managers and Client Relationship Management	p. 239
Legal Resources	p. 239
Magazines (Online and Off-line)	p. 239
Money Managements and Invoicing	p. 239
Organizations and Associations	p. 239
Project Management and Versioning Control	p. 240
Time Tracking	p. 240
Index	p. 241
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