When I first started doing graphic design for hire about 2 years ago (my sophomore year of college), I thought I knew everything. My rudimentary knowledge of Photoshop CS and Dreamweaver MX was enough to enter the professional market, albeit at a reduced price. In reality I barely knew HTML, much less CSS, PHP or JS, and the fact that I accomplished anything cool looking in PS was a miracle. A couple of failed merger attempts and a couple different professional names later, I’m still here.
These days I work alone. Well, me and my amazing coder Chaz Meyers. I use Basecamp to keep me on schedule, and Blinksale to manage invoices. I’m actively contributing themes to the Wordpress community, and I write (almost) all my own CSS. Gone is Dreamweaver and older software, this workflow includes Photoshop CS3, Macromate’s TextMate, and a slew of tricks.
Just as I’ve advanced as a designer and a business man, I am now updating my official business offerings. I am only accepting 15 projects at a time. This number includes multiple projects for one client. In the past I’ve over extended myself, leading to a reduction in quality control for my contracts. No more! As a result of the reduced workload, I am also slightly increasing my basic pricing. 1-page CMS’ed sites are now going for $300 with a 1-week turnaround, 2-page CMS’ed sites for $500 with a 2-week turnaround. For my existing and present clients who are cringing because they loved my low rates: I will still be offering discounts for return business, and credits for referrals. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.
I will be rolling out an all-new portfolio portion on this site, and adjusting my blog content as soon as I get a free second between projects.
Happy new year!
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