WordPress Development for Designers
10 steps to go from hours of code to development-free design projects
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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.
If you’ve been around a while, you know that I’ve been spending more time thinking and talking about ways to make business work better – both mine and yours. I’ve found that one of the most important things we can do for our business is take the time to figure out what actually works for us, rather than throwing something together and crossing our fingers.
But I also realize that it’s way easier said than done.
Think about your current design services. How did you go about putting those together?
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.
Outsourcing any part of your small business is a big step. Heck, I remember when I hired my first VA for a few hours per month. I was intimidated, had no idea what the process would look like, and was worried about releasing some of the control I had over my business.
Handing-off something as vital as coding pieces of your design projects can be even more intimidating. Not only is this part of your business, but your client is depending on you to do a good job.
A couple weeks ago, we chatted about the most affordable and flexible way to work with a developer. If you checked out that post, you know we ended up talking about working with a developer on a monthly retainer basis. It’s a big step that feels super intimidating when you’re prepping to do it for the first time.
To help you get a better idea of what the process looks like from a designer’s point of view, today we’re going to take an inside look at the lovely Amanda’s experience! Her and I have worked together on a retainer basis since the beginning of 2017, so she definitely knows the ins and outs of what to expect.
