WordPress Development for Designers
10 steps to go from hours of code to development-free design projects
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When you’re used to being in control of your web design projects, the thought of bringing someone in to take care of a major part can be intimidating. Not to mention all of the horror stories we hear about working with developers. Either the developer disappears part way through a project or the end result isn’t anything like you expected.
I’m here today to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.
There’s nothing quite like starting a fresh web design project. The branding is done (and perfect ;)) and now it’s time to make your client the website of their dreams. The process is great, you have full creative control, and you and your client love the end result.
But, what happens after that?
After you launch a new website, it might take a few months, but your client is bound to come back with requests. Things like…
One of my “fun” personal quirks is that I’m ultra organized and detail-oriented. Those tiny details that most people ignore and look past in any given project? They were probably what I thought of and planned for first. It’s kind of extreme, but it’s totally why being a developer for designers has served me so well.
But…there has been a place I’ve been slacking when it comes to organization and details and that’s what I work on from month-to-month.
Generally, each month I have one big client project and about 15 hours of retainer work. Outside of that, I kind of wing it. Until now. (dun, dun, dun)
The realization that your business isn’t quite working out the way you’d planned isn’t a fun one. You might look back at your last few projects and see that the clients weren’t the type you want to be working with. Or you might not have any past clients to look back on and feel like you’ll never create a consistent income.
I’ve been there. We’ve all been there.
It’s a scary feeling, but know that there’s always a way to improve and start turning your business into what you want it to be.
Every time you try something new, there’s bound to be questions. And when you’re doing something as involved as collaborating with a developer, the questions are about endless!
I’ve taken note of the most common questions I’ve seen pop up in my Facebook group and on Instagram and am going to answer them here!
One of the most frustrating parts of web design projects is definitely changes and revisions. You know, all those times you’ve been SURE that you’re done with the project and 10 minutes later you get a message from your client with either a laundry list of tiny tweaks or a huge change that you never saw coming.
These kinds of things are even more frustrating if you’re working with a developer on your projects. Now, not only are you having to do extra changes and revisions that you didn’t figure into the project cost, but you’re catching heat from your developer and get stuck with extra fees from either being late on your final delivery or changing things after they’ve received your “final” files.
You finally take the leap to work with a developer on your latest custom web design project. You’re excited to see your unique and intentional design come to life without having to do any of the development yourself. But…then you get the website from your developer and wonder what in the world they were even looking at. You’re out hundreds or thousands of dollars, are going to miss your deadline, and are right back to where you started.
Gathering content from clients can be a constant struggle. It gets stressful fast to have to follow-up with someone repeatedly, wonder whether your project is going to continue, and determine how you’re going to manage when your next scheduled project starts when this one is already running behind.
