Loosing hope - need some advice

I feel you.... But I'm sure you'll be able to find a client that is willing to pay for what your service(s) is worth.

Have you tried marketing your services locally? I've gotten local clients that are willing to pay my "standard" rates. These standard rates will vary in different regions... Now, if I'm able to do it, I'm sure you can too... Just stay positive and go for it

Hi Els, you seem like a genuine developer with a quality service. Whilst the competition is fierce in web design due to low cost bad designs & service, its evident that there is loads of space for the quality developers that deliver a truly professional service.

However, as a smart developer and entrepreneur, i personally take the opportunity to dive right in the middle of the competition, what i mean by this is i prefer to design applications that offer a service as the middleman between the client and professional rendering the services. This way no matter what you going to develop a business that not only is self sustained, but also easier to scale in the marketplace. Creating a marketplace is the best way for me to focus on the business aspects and grow simultaneously.

I find membership websites a great way to generate recurring income, its simple to manage and you need not work as much when comparing your ROI.

Now i know that developing one of these applications is not simple, managing the servers, load balancing, algorithms, metrics, GUIs and much more. I personally help people develop these applications from scratch and teach them how to scale a business from home without having to break your neck in the process. I often do joint ventures with individuals whom can market the platform, i sell entire businesses worth thousands of $'s, sometimes its better to sell a business rather than a website for a client.

My main aim is to always do as least work as possible and automate my business as much as possible so that i can scale exponentially. Take no offence, however i feel you putting in way to much effort in the wrong places. Cheap clients and business websites are fading so fast, with the rise of DIY website builders its only going to get worse each Quarter.

I hear you, and i understand your position, its best to change direction and business model now while its early. The growth of membership services and marketplaces will always be extremely hard for novice users to replicate, thus protecting your market. Stick out the vulnerable niche and you will be safe with many smiles to come.

Hope that helps your choices.

You should stop using marketplaces like Elance/Guru etc. immediately and start looking around on forums like warriorforums and other marketing forums. Also, don't forget Twitter and Linkedin. Lots of business out there. Good luck :-)

I absolutely feel your pain my friend. My design and developer skills are only average, but I've done SEO for the past 5 years and seen pretty much every aspect of it. I've worked in corporations(it sucks), I've worked in smaller companies(lacks coordination and resources), I've worked for myself(no guarantee for income). I am here to tell you that even the greatest developer can only go so far by himself.

In my opinion, what you need is a union. You say you work in a company - that right there gives you an opportunity to be picky about your staff. Choose people that are just as passionate as you are and make sure you can trust them and be able to work WITH them for the long run. If you can't enjoy working together and keep a friendly-professional attitude at all times, just stay the hell away from them. More so, you don't need a big team. A programmer, a designer and an SEO alone can do wonders.

Just think about how Apple has started out. Facebook too. Lots of other examples where college graduates fired up their game and worked as a union to form what we now recognize as market giants.

And finally, as you can find in another comment here, look locally, but explore all your options for outreach. If things work out for you, the next step for you would be to INSIST on bringing quality to customers, not playing by the market's game. The market is crap, I know. What you need are TARGETED clients, ones who will be loyal. Do everything in your power to keep them. Trust me, the word spreads out like wildfire, so long as your intellectual property has quality and breaks the mainstream standards of $10 services.

Hope this helps. Keep your head up, soldier on and good luck!