Redesigning Web Sites, Proposals and Portfolios

There’s a lot of money to be made in doing web site redesigns. If you can convince a business owner that their site is hopelessly out of date, or that the business will make more money on the internet with improvements you can make, plenty of them will take you up on it.

On the other hand, many are content to stay in the past, using an unprofessional site some friend set up for them years ago. So don’t worry about it if you get a ‘no’ the first time you ask. Chances are that if the person has an unprofessional web site design for their business, the business owner has no web savvy and not much understanding of what makes a site look professional. Your job will be to enlighten this person so that he understands that his site design is interfering with the respectability of his business.

Sometimes it helps to have a new design idea at hand when you approach a business owner. If you’re going to talk to the business owner in person about their web site, you might want to draw up a short proposal showing you’re putting time and effort into a vision of what their site could be. Along with that, a binder with printouts of your portfolio of design ideas could be useful. Put each design printout in a clear plastic page protector and let your prospective clients sift through them, imagining what their web site could look like if only they hired a professional designer.

Let the business owners whose web sites you want to redesign see the difference between unprofessional web site work, and what you can do for them. Let your proposal, which you’ll give to them, sit on their desk and gnaw at their subconscious. Many of them will think it over each time they glance at your proposal, and eventually see things your way.

Sales is one of the most important aspects of your work as a web designer. Give plenty of time and thought to this vital activity. Be prepared. Your business will prosper if you make sales presentations organized and appealing.

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This topic came to mind because I just redesigned or designed nine web sites in the past two months - all of them owned by me. (At this time I no longer do web design projects for others.) What a huge job! I’m delighted to say I’m finished with that task and ready to spend more time talking about web design – on this blog.