Quote: (03-23-2015 07:31 PM)se7en Wrote:
Quote: (03-23-2015 04:26 PM)Saladin Wrote:
I'm surprised nobody's linked to this thread-
http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-29744.html
Read through that.
Don't act like a one man team, because an agency will typically command higher rates than one man. One man conveys "freelancer", while a company name conveys "agency".
In terms of lead generation. There are certain businesses that are more willing to spend higher amounts on high quality web design and development. Those are the clients you want to get. Don't waste your time on businesses that are only willing to spend 300$ on a shitty website. You want the businesses that think dropping 10,000$ on a new website is nothing.
If you want some feedback, PM me your portfolio and I'll let you know what I think, how much its worth, etc.
I would like to respectfully disagree with this – I work at a middle sized business and the few times that we have hired an agency to handle any marketing or web-design business have always ended in rip-off fees, and substantial unnecessary delays.
Nowdays, we only hire individual web designers. The #1 pre-req I look for when hiring web designers and marketers is their personal ability to code, and successful prior projects. I screen heavily against any out-sourcing or any sales managers or project managers selling their services – the primary reason for this is time and the amount of information which gets lost in translation. I want someone who can show me changes and can edit design data for me in real time so that I can immediately see results and compare / change as I see fit. Ideally, this person will also come to our office to work, where he will be set up with a comfortable work space & accommodated while he is working. When dealing with an agency, it has usually been my project manager taking notes, which are then passed on to their designers. Its too time consuming, and too costly. Furthermore, dealing with project managers who know less about web design then I do has been pretty annoying.
Bottom-line: Nowadays, I will pay significantly more money to an individual designer / engineer who puts his direct reputation on the line, because I know I am working with someone accountable, and the person that I am speaking to will inevitably be the person making my design. This holds great weight for me. I dont hire agencies.
OP, I encourage you to work as an individual designer, build up your portfolio & personal brand, and always be mindful of ways you can make your contract employer’s life easier. For this, you will be compensated fairly, and will receive substantial referral business.
To be honest, I've heard some pretty bad things about a lot of the agencies out there so I don't doubt your experience. At the same time, it's a bit naive to automatically assume an individual is better to hire than an agency. An agency is ultimately a team, and well functioning teams provide higher quality outputs.
How much did you pay the web developer/designer? Was it hourly or fixed? If the guy came into your office, you probably knew exactly how many hours he was working. Were you paying him 70-100$/hour? Because that's how much OP could get branding himself as a small agency that's done 10 decent projects. That's nothing btw, medium sized agencies usually charge a significant amount more. Most freelance web designers usually charge less.
Additionally, nothing stops OP from providing a high quality experience as an agency, even if its just him.
Most businesses have an expectation that they will be paying an "agency" much more than they'll be paying an individual. Maybe OP can focus on selling fixed price projects. But its a weaker negotiating position as an individual, unless OP is truly excellent at branding himself as an expert. Businesses are automatically going to assume you have very low overhead as an individual.
You could just do both. Have an agency website, and an individual personal branded website.