...on Turnaround Time

I have found that tracking the time spent on projects helps a lot. When I have to estimate the time required to complete a new project I can refer back to past projects which were of a similar scale.

Having an accurate record of the time taken to complete a project also allows me to know when I underestimated, and gives me a chance to analyse where I went wrong.

I still sometimes under quote, and usually it’s because I use a best possible scenario when doing my calculations, leaving no margin for error. To avoid this I now routinely add 20% to my estimates. This loading gives me some buffer room in case the project takes longer than expected, which it invariably will.

The other part of your question was to do with timeframes. I don’t really have a good answer for that one, except to say that projects *always* take longer than you expect. Sometimes it’s the client’s fault: they are slow to provide assets or to approve mockups and proofs. Often it’s my own fault: my calendar is usually busy, and I find myself biting off more than I can chew.

Perhaps you could try keeping track of your average estimated completion date for projects, and compare against the actual delivery date. If you routinely finish projects two weeks later than expected then you will know to add an extra few weeks to your estimated timeframes.

One other thing: don’t let clients pressure you into promising a quick turaround. A client doesn’t have the knowledge or experience to estimate how long it takes to develop a website, so don’t let them call the shots. If a prospective client tells me that they want a website delivered in one week, or two weeks, I politely turn down the project. It is better to under-promise and over-deliver than to fail to deliver on your promises.

...on Providing technical support to clients

@nilsgeylen Wow, that sounds like a horrible situation to find yourself in! I’ve had a few situations over the years where I have wound up in a conflict with a client (threats of lawyers, even), and I found it very distressing.

You raise a good point about hosting. I do consider hosting, and hosting migration, part of my job. I resell hosting to clients, not at a huge markup, but enough to make it worth my while to have clients hosted with me. Plus, it’s benefitial to have my client’s sites all hosted in the same spot.

...on *Proactively* landing (bigger & better) web design clients. How is done?

CasJam, I can relate to your situation. I have been relying on “reactive” methods of growing my client base for about seven years. All in all, that’s not a bad thing. The important thing is to always take on jobs that grow your business in one way or another - bigger budgets, more freedom as a designer, a foot in the door of your target sector… Sometimes I take on a crummy job just to make the rent, and that can be soul sapping.

As much as possible I try to weed out the dull and poor paying jobs, so that I can focus on work that I find rewarding. Here is a nice method of gauging the value of a project. It has to meet two of the following criterea:

- A good budget
- You will enjoy working on the project
- It is a project you will be be proud to display in your portfolio

So if a project has a poor budget, that is an OK tradeoff provided you will have fun on the job and will have a strong portfolio piece at the end of the day. If a project ticks all three boxes: win!

Sorry I am getting off tangent here. My point is that “reactive” methods of procuring new work can be turned into “proactive” opportunities if you are careful to take on projects that align with your business goals.

@crysodenkirk’s advice about cold calling is fantastic. My studio mates run a small (one fulltime designer) graphic design firm, and through cold calling and marketing their portfolio were able to push their business to the next level, and win several high profile arts sector projects, which is their target market. But of course it wasn’t simply a matter of cold calling, they managed that off the back of several very strong previous jobs for smaller clients in the arts sector - art galleries, dance companies, and so forth.

A strong portfolio can get you a long way if you market it to the right people.

Another thing to consider is whether you want to literally “grow” your business: to take on contractors or staff to help you gain bigger projects. I can’t offer any advice in this regard, I’ve always been a solo player, but if you want to work at the top end of town then sooner or later you’ll most likely have to expand your operation.

...on Managing clients' data

@nilsgeylen: I’m pleased you found Passpack useful :)

...on Working for Shares

Without knowing more about the project or the people behind it, my advise would be to run away. Fast.

This sounds like classic client carrot dangling, other variations include:

“If you do this project for free, there will be more paid work coming your way in the future”

“We’ll pay you when we make a profit”

I’m sure there are cases when web developers have come ahead in front from such arrangements, but don’t get sucked in by the allure of a “startup”. A startup is just a small business, and most small businesses fail.

Anyone who is serious about a business should expect to pay their suppliers, or at least provide an equivalent value service/product in exchange for their time. If a web startup hasn’t budgeted to pay a web developer, I would suggest that they haven’t planned very well, which doesn’t bode well for their future.

If in doubt, use this chart to help decide if you should work for free:

http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

You’ll notice that if a business tells you they are a startup, the answer is an instant NO.

...on Drawar's Next Steps...Future Is Bright

Sorry, I don’t have time to read all the comments on this post, so apologies if I repeat what others have already said.

The new Drawar sounds interesting, and I think the move is necessary. I loved Drawar back when it began, when it was a blog with a bold voice.

The current ‘community’ approach I’m not such a fan of. While I think there are some great discussions, I would prefer more focus. In other words, I would prefer a blog to a forum.

From the sounds of things we will be getting both, which is a win-win.

...on An example of doing evil spec work?

In my opinion designing on spec is seldom a good idea. Design competitions are just a way for a company to have graphic design work done for free. Sure, the “winner” usually gets paid, but all the other contributors give their time for free. In this case, even the winner gets no financial reward for their efforts.

I understand that CyanogenMod is a non-profit community, which changes the dynamic somewhat, but they are still devaluing the effort and skill required to design a website. They should not have asked for designers to submit finished designs. Instead, they should have browsed the portfolios of interested designers, chosen the designer who was the best fit, and commissioned that designer to complete a finished design.

Opening the designs up to public voting is also a dreadful idea. As you have suggested it pits the designers against one another, and creates a “survival of the fittest” situation. In the initial call for proposals it was not mentioned that the designs would be displayed for public scrutiny and voted on. To have done so demonstrates disrespect for the designers who have made contributions.

...on Designers who still like tiny fonts

I don’t notice a whole lot of sites with tiny fonts anymore, and I can only imagine that anyone using tiny type is inexperienced at designing for the web.

It’s certainly true that print designers struggle with the concept of scale and dimension when it comes to designing websites. They are used to setting type at 10pt and it being perfectly legible when printed, but obviously the same does not hold true of 10px type viewed at 72dpi.

...on How Many Hosting / Servers?

I have a reseller plan for client websites.

I also have a hosting plan with Dreamhost which I use for my own personal website. If I’m building a website for a friend I chuck it on the Dreamhost server, since DH offer virtually unlimited bandwidth/disk quota. Dreamhost’s servers are quite unreliable, so I tend to use them only for non-critical websites.

...on 1000px+ Grids...Why

I’ve not personally seen anyone advocating 1000+ px fixed width layouts, but I agree that seems a little crazy.

I don’t actually think wide browser windows are what web designers really need to be worrying about, anyway. Website visitors don’t complains that a 960px wide layout isn’t wide enough, but users of mobile browsers do complain if a layout requires them to pinch and zoom to view it.

It’s now becoming a standard request from my clients that their website “looks good on my iPhone”.

@TedGoas I totally agree. It’s window size that matters, not monitor resolution. I have a 1920x1200 at work, but I browse with a window about 1100 or 1200 wide.

...on Why co-work?

I’ve worked in a shared studio space for six years. The main advantages are:

- It stops me going stir crazy
- I have people to talk to
- It’s more professional for clients to visit me in an office/studio rather than at home
- It makes me seem ‘bigger’ than a one-man operation
- I get a lot of spill over work from my studio-mates

The only downside is the cost of rent.

I think the success of co-working depends on the mix of people. I share with a graphic design firm and a small video production company, and we are in overlapping social circles. So it’s a good fit for me: we have complimentary skill sets and similar interests and tastes.

It’s very different to working in an ‘office’ since I’m still my own boss.

...on Doctype

I’ve been using modernizr on a couple of projects so I can start to familiarise myself with the new HTML5 elements (header, footer, article, section etc), and I haven’t noticed any problems or performance issues at all.

I have also used the video tag on a website to provide video for iOS visitors.

I found the HTML5 boilerplate a useful tool for making the transition.

I think using the HTML5 doctype is fine (it certainly doesn’t hurt!), but it doesn’t give you any HTML5 goodness. Since IE7 and IE8 will be kicking around for some years yet, I think that tools like Modernizr are the only practical way to start using HTML5 in the near future.

@blok I use the Total Validator plugin for Firefox, with the Total Validator software installed locally so that I can validate HTML when testing locally. Works really well.

@blok The whole 2022 thing is of course total bogus. To put it in perspective, the CSS 2.1 spec only became a candidate for recommendation in April 2009, and we’ve all been using CSS 2.1 in production websites for about 10 years! From what I understand the HTML5 spec is expected to be finalized in 2012.

...on Code Snippets

I use Snipplr. It’s great for storing my own code snippets, as well as bookmarking other people’s snippets.

As with most things, if I can keep it in the cloud, I do. With Snipplr I can access my snippets at home, at the office, or anywhere I might need them.

...on Client Support Resources

I made a simple FAQ website that answers most of my client’s common questions. When a client asks me a question that’s on the FAQ I just point them to the relevant article. It has saved me a LOT of typing!

...on Falling out of love with Flash

lesjames, my experience is fairly similar to yours. I started my web design career as a fulltime Flash developer, but I’ve slowly transitioned away from Flash.

In the early 2000’s Flash seemed like the perfect antidote to the browser wars. Build once, view anywhere: awesome!

But the more I worked with Flash, the more I became dissatisfied with the fact that Flash sites tend to be used as a gimmicky marketing tool, and often lack substance. The content heavy sites I visit frequently, and love, are never Flash sites. I grew to have philosophical problems with Flash, and put more and more of my energy into improving my HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP knowledge. I wanted to build sites that enriched the Internet, not marketing gimmicks.

In the past few years I have noticed that my clients tastes are changing too. When a new client comes to me they seldom show me a Flash website as an example of a site they like, whereas 5 or 6 years ago they would show me a Flash site 90% of the time.

I owe Flash a lot, but I won’t be sad if it fades away.

...on Managing clients' data

I use an online service called Passpack. Of course I had some trepidation about storing all my passwords online, but Passpack are pretty damned serious about security.

Passpack also allows you to securely send passwords to your clients too.

I considered using a local password archiving app, but the ability to access passwords from anywhere really won me over.

They also have a cool feature where you can generate one-time logins, which are great when travelling and using unsecure computers: if someone steals your one time password (e.g. with a keylogger) it is useless to them.

This may sound like an ad for Passpack, but it’s not, I’m just a very satisfied cutomer.