$100,000 a year from Web Design possible?

Ofcourse it's possible...thousands of web designers do it. You're taking a very weak approach to it though.

$1,000 per site...more like $2,000-3,000 if not more.

No problem, It's close to what I did my first year as a total newbie.

Even though I was doing web design independently I was still making decent money. And that was starting at $500 for my first site. On my second and third I charged $800, then after that I was charging $1000 a site.

At one point I was putting people on a waiting list because I didn't want to outsource any work. And I didn't want to outsource because I was afraid of getting crappy work done, then redoing everything myself. I was glad that I did that, because it forced me to learn more, which enabled me to finish sites quicker.

Then like iamnamless said, people starting asking me for other services. And then I started outsourcing THOSE services. But not the webdesign.

My biggest tip is bust your ass on your first 5-10 sites. Do an incredible job. Even if you feel like you're doing too much work. I was so insecure about my work that I wound up overdoing everything, and apparently people liked what I did... which led to a ton of referalls.

So seriously, make the best sites you can, thats my best advice.
Eventually I stopped and started doing other stuff (I was losing my mind being trapped behind my computer all day) but if I ever need the money, I'll definitely do it again.

Good luck!

-Red

ps. I never did 2 clients a week. Only 1. =]

Sure you can do it. People do it right now. So as I always like to say to myself: It "CAN" be done. It is certainly within the realm of possibility.

I'd like to offer a quick nugget.

What are your minimum expenses? How much to do you need to make just to break even?

Divide that number by your average PROFIT per customer, then you know how many clients you need just to keep the lights on.

What is the max number of clients you could handle at any given time in your CURRENT setup?

Multiply that number by your average PROFIT per customer, and you know roughly what your MAXIMUM possible earnings are in your current situation.

There are more calculations (can't share here) - but those two figures should get you started.

Best of luck!

well, I believe you can do much more than that if you do your job properly

Keep your eye on the residual income - at $30pm for hosting/support based on your numbers, you'll have $100,000pa residual after 3 years.

Is it just you doing this?

If it is, I think you're being optimistic about what you can achieve

You'll need a break and you'll need time for admin so 52 weeks a year is unrealistic.

Outsource lead generation and web design leaving yourself free to coordinate it all - and it's possible.

Tony

I would totally forget trying to sell 2 sites a week for a year because there's so much that's going to happen with each client that you won't have time to keep cold calling and selling more sites. The time spent on maintaining and building your clients sites is going to compound really fast.

It's not as easy as simply slapping up a wordpress site and moving on to the next one. They're not going to hand you $1,000 and forget about it.

Like Nameless mentioned, sell them a logo package, SEO, maintanance, hosting, postcards design, etc.

Focus on getting some clients and then upselling those existing clients. It's going to be more profitable, less time consuming, and less stress. The communication between you and your clients will be better, their results will be better, and your relationship will be one that they want to refer you.

Before you know it, you'll have less than a dozen clients but you'll be making $10k per month working just with them. Lots better than trying to bang 2 business owners over the head each week for a grand and making hundreds of calls per day to find more.

Remember once you get profits coming in, you can outsource it to reliable workers to get the leads. You will then be working smart and paying a very small amount for the outsourcing each month.

Here is a little tip on getting the work - find someone that has has access to the customers you want to do work for. In my B&M cleaning biz I targeted tile stores and contractors to get my tile/grout cleaning work. Why? THEY had access to tons of people so I marketed to them instead of the masses. They refer me all the the time - I am always pre-sold as the the "tile guy" recommended me. My marketing budget is pretty low.

Why not go out and give 100% for a week to see what kind of results you can obtain? Make it a goal to call 2,000 businesses for a week and see what happens. Then you'll have some real data to base your plans on.

Yes. Keep a day job to cover your expenses and your new business expenses such as marketing materials, flyers, business cards, gasoline to get to appointments and events, more airtime minutes, website hosting...

I've never found it to be effective to be scary broke and trying to start a business. Hard to truly serve clients when you need money. Results may vary.

If you are going to help a business with it's image, many prospects will be judging you about the appearance of your business and credibility. Not that you won't be able to get clients without your own website, etc., it just helps to look like you know what you are doing and to presell your service.

If you need it, it does not cost that much to get a website and marketing materials from WSOs and Wordpress...

Best of luck to you.

Dan

i think its very possible. its alot of work n your own, but of you outsource many of your sites to be developed its duable yes.Good luck.

My experience during the first year was learning how to develop a process to build the sites and also figuring out the market rates for my area. So is a 100,000 possible? Yes but probably not likely if you have ZERO experience in any of this. Its good to set a high bar but the real challenge is just getting out there and doing it and adjusting from there. Making it work and sticking with it even when it doesn't seem to be working out.

Your sales are not going to be a consistent 2 per week and that is a high estimate. Try more for 2 sites a month to begin with. That's enough for you to start working out your own internal system to build the sites and complete the work. You can build up from there. If you obtain 8 sites a month but do not have a foundation on how to complete those sites then you will be in trouble.

Also your sales will vary and you need to be able to handle some months you may have zero sales some months you may have a lot. A second income from a separate business I have helped me in this regard. For you this may include a job. I don't know your income needs but a 2nd shift, 3rd shift, or weekend job would be preferable if you are serious about developing this business. The daytime is important to generate leads, meet clients, and close sales.

You are too simplistic on building the sites. Its definitely not just throwing up a wordpress theme. For long term success you will need a reliable designer and programmer to send projects to. You will need to be able to manage theme effectively. You will need to be able to customize the sites to the demands of your clients. Also realize your clients are usually the biggest hold up on getting projects completed. Its a lot of work to get approvals and revisions from your clients but customer service during and after the project is huge your long term success. You will definitely feel like you earned your money and that your not over charging once you get into this business.

You would just be rushing work out of the door.

You absolutely can do this. I've been doing it for over 8 years running now.

If you haven't already been making sites for customers, you might want to get used to what that can be like before making grand plans.
As Bob Ross said you can't just jam this out. Many sites can be done in Wordpress, but some will want ecommerce and many will want a custom design. You also need to be good at dealing with the customers. Some are awesome and some are a nightmare. It's important to figure out how you will deal with them.

To me, getting the clients isn't too hard, so yes you can do this.

Of course, It'll work!

I've an Online Marketing Company, and we offers a lots of services like Article Marketing / Craig List Ad Postings / Web2.0 Site Building etc etc; and our Earning this More than $10,000 per Month. And it's increasing day by day.

Now my target is - $30,000 per Month.

" Work is Religion " ; give best services to your clients & you'll earn beyond imagination!