Need Help Taking Website Designs From Clients

I'm not sure if I should ask you this question, but do you use WordPress? You could get some .info websites, like 3-4. Put a portfolio on your site linking to the cheap .info sites, or you could just install another wordpress inside of your websites directory. If you don't have your own website, the .info sites are the way to you and just be ready to show them to the client. Go to photodune.net get some sick pictures and deck those portfolio websites out. You should buy the $2 dollar photos if it's like a header image, and $1 will do if you're just gonna put them in an example post.

You get 3-4 beautiful websites with beautiful images from photodune, and you're going to look quite professional.

You know there are some pig ugly sites out there raking in the $$$$

Im simply saying, looks arent everything, in fact theyre pretty unimportant.

Getting the right visitors to the site, onto the right pages, to take the action required and come out the other end either stronger prospects, fully paid up clients, associates, etc etc is whats important, not how pretty the site looks.

A pig ugly site can do that just as well (maybe better) than a graphically pleasing site, people are searching for information on the company, products etc its the content that counts not the colours.

Now I totally understand that your prospects wont grasp that straight away, they want pretty over effective at first, how many ask for demo sites and judge them solely on looks rather than usability and effectiveness at making the visitor take the action required , indeed Im wagering (near enough) every web designer out there (ie not here) will focus on that approach, pretty over results, so go in , stand out from the crowd, show you know better, focus on the effectiveness as thats what gets the $$$ in and makes your clients the profits, nobody ever bought from a company because they had a pretty looking site, they brought because they were seduced right, they arrived at a highly relevant page, they were led through the process and offered a simple way to purchase (ok more to it than that but this isnt the thread) , if the contents right, I never even notice the design , Im too busy reading the content

I disagree with mjbmedia. Why not go in, have beautiful websites in a portfolio and sound like you know what you're talking about. WordPress has pretty much become the standard of simplicity when it comes to designing websites. As long as you keep plugins to a minimum, updates on wordpress won't mess the website up.

If you've never used it It can be fearful to jump into it, but we have to do that sometimes. Plus you can create a wordpress site faster than html. If your plan is to create an HTML site for ever client you get, that's going to be rough. But you did say you were outsourcing. Even still the beauty of the website will win them over. Assure them it's the best of both worlds.

No, its better to go in really knowing what you're talking about, being different from the rest, than 'sound like you know what youre talking about' as in bull****ting the prospect but givng them pretty pictures to look at.
Possibly youre the sort that gives this industry the bad reputation of people Bsing their way through presentations to business owners that can be easily hoodwinked with glossy flashy sites and why many business have websites that may look fancy but dont produce leads or profit

Have you tried asking the clients what type of site they want?

Some clients already have a vision of what they want their site to look like, even going so far as to write down domain names of sites that have the look and feel (color scheme, content, design, etc.) they want.

Other clients may leave it up to you to come up with the design. In this case, just go to Google and see what other sites in that niche look like, and present the information to your client, at which point they can confirm that your instincts are good or that they have something else in mind.

Don't make it too hard on yourself. Go with your instincts and you'll be fine.

Hey - If you're working with a good designer - off shore or whatever - you should be able to long hand the requirements.

I went into my mail and found this actual example of a site that I had done. I references some existing themes and just explained exactly what I wanted. This was to a company in India I outsource my work to.

Here is the email that kicked off the project:

After that email, I went back and forth over email for about 3 weeks with the deisgner adding pages, tweaks, etc.

The client was thrilled and all I did was act as the project manager. I forget the price tag - I think I charged the client like $1800 and my designer charged me like $400.

My point is.... find an outsourcer that you like and they will get to understand what you mean by various descriptions. I've done like 30 sites with this designer - now I can describe what I want (and have him understand) in just a few bullet points.

Hope that helps...

Harry

No you're right. You didn't say that. You did imply it though. You're telling him not to worry about going in with flashy pages, just make sure you know what you're talking about, and they're sold.

And you're dodging all of what I said about getting the best of both, which I've said from the beginning. Whether he sounds like he knows it or not, he will still be in his position of knowledge regardless of a possible interview one week later from this thread. So whether he "knows" or not, he's still gonna go out there and try to get a client.

So your next advice according to how this conversation has gone, would be something like, don't go out there until you know you can fully guarantee what you know in your head. Newsflash man, we all have to start somewhere. We can't "know" it all from the start.

Only advice I could say to that, would be don't promise what you can't provide. Be honest with what you know and are unsure of, and you will look into the information they ask about. Just make sure what you know sounds like you really know it. They will usually appreciate your honesty.

fyi mjb, he can go into an meeting knowing everything, doesn't mean he's got the best communication skills. Sounding like he knows what he's saying is just as essential as knowing. You're very judgmental off of one word btw.