Hi there,

I have had a go at a few websites over the last few years and no all the basics of coding, image stuff etc without being fluent in anything.

Now I think I would like to make it my job and try and work for a webdesign company. I am hoping that I can gain enoug experience with it all - standards, SEO etc to branch off on my own doing websites for people full time, whilst also working on my million dollar site idea!

How much of this have you achieved? Is this a pipe dream? I see a lot of talented people on here, willing to design sites, graphics etc for very small money and leads me to think whether working for myself for decent money is realistic as there seems to be a lot of competition out there. I know we all do this because we enjoy it too but we have to make a living still right?

Be good to hear any thoughts/experiences -thanks.

I think that is a reasonable goal. I personally have been doing web design for a few years and am almost entirely self taught. A while back I began looking for an entry level job at a design company, and interviewed a a few before I landed the one I'm currently at. It's always good to surround yourself with others who love what you love, and who you can learn from.

Branching off into freelance will be a bit different, but as long as you can maintain a regular flow of clients, there shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure you can provide the services you claim to offer.

One thing I notice a lot is people who are tyring to work freelance, but don't charge nearly enough. 100 bucks for a complete website is far too inexpensive. If you can actually give a client what they want, they will be willing to pay more for that to be done. The price can always be negotiated.

I have also been doing web design a few years and I am self taught. Although I don't see myself as amazing I can say that I am better and know more than some students who went to university to study this and got top honours as they were more theory based than hands on.

It is strange at the minute for pricing and things like that and I am finding it hard to get much work for decent money but that is down to people offering dirt cheap services and the way the economy is in the UK it is peanuts by the time I have created somebody a logo.

I sometimes create cheap logos / sites for people as it helps to fill my portfolio and get my name out. If they have a good site where I see an ideal opportunity for a decent back link I will give them a good price if I can have a back link which will help me in the long run.

Hick Man being a web designer is a reasonable goal. How you go about reaching that goal will depend a little on the specifics of where you want to go. Working for a company as a web designer will take a different path than working for yourself.

It sounds like you're thinking of working for a company. What I would do is look at classified ads in your area, find the ads with the jobs you want, and see what kind of skills those ads are asking for. You can look in the local paper or online. You can even look beyond your immediate area.

Once you know the skills and software companies in your area are looking for it's up to you to gain those skills and proficiency in the software. Some companies may want a degree and others may not. Start applying for the jobs that best match your current skill set and experience and as you increase your skills and experience you'll open up which jobs you can apply for.

All of the above can still help if you want to go into business for yourself. The difference is you'll need more knowledge about business and marketing in general. You also won't need to learn every type of software you see listed. For example a lot of companies may expect you to know DreamWeaver because that's what they use in house. If you work for yourself you could use some other software of even better learn to code by hand.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice guys. This gives me hope as I am armed with a degree in computer science and have a programming job currently but it's still difficult to get into a web design company without commercial experiece. I would like to go on my own but I feel I need to learn a few trics of the trade first, esp SEO and graphics wise.

I am actually doing my first paid website on the side for a friend of a friend and I sympathise with the costing thing Mark and Nick. Sometimes there isn't a lot too these simple websites but you can spend days creating the perfect graphics and as I've found more recently days trying to solve a seemingly simple browser compatibilty problem.

I asked a web company how much they'd charge to do a simple 10 page site and they wanted £8000 before any SEO, user updating interface etc! I then see people on here with possibly more skills deigning graphics for £25 quid. So it seems extremely difficult to judge where you lie.

I reckon I am going to charge as much as poss then negotiate if need be! Good luck with all your endeavours and well done on the progress so far! Would be great to see some examples of work.

Here is the one I am working on at the mo..


http://www.arnwoodvets.co.uk/test.php

the one you're working on has a stray second doctype part way down the source...
if you have firefox installed then download the html tidy/validator to check your pages with
http://users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/download.html
and/or the web developer toolbar if you don't have it already http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/

Thanks davemies, its all a bit rushed at the moment and will be tidying all up after I have achieved all the desired layout/functionality.

I'll be sure to check out those links when I do

Cheers

As long as you love what you do and put an effort you will do well no matter what you do! so set up the goal and keep working hard and enjoy it.

I, like many web designers, am completely self-taught, which I think is the way to go. But, as I tell new clients when I'm pitching them, there is a whole lot to web design. Just remember that there is a broad spectrum to being a pro web person and someone who just knows how to throw something together in Dreamweaver.