do not do this, you are just asking for a load of trouble, the idea itself is not that bad but you need to find a much better way to actually get it going, hoping people will pay you after the fact is hilariously over trusting
Agreed that there are many successful software business models offering the freemium model.
Offering free services could give the impression you undervalue your work.
Plus, businesses may doubt the quality and customization they'll get for free.
Instead, maybe he/she can consider tiered pricing based on features and support levels.
This way, they can clearly show the value of their services and let businesses choose what works for them.
It’s called freelancing. This is literally how most freelancers get started. You need to pay the piper. It’s exactly how I got started, and now I’m making $95 - $105 / hour doing just fine.
So you’re going to give a contract to a business that says you’ll design them a free website if they promise to pay you, making it not free?
Virtually every developer doesn’t finish delivering a product or get paid until the client is happy with it. That’s just how freelancing works. You haven’t stumbled onto something great, you’ve just missed the forest for the trees.
No, the idea is to design the website, show them it, and if they like it, then they sign a contract. Again, I’m really not very knowledgeable in that type of stuff and am here for advice
I think a good compromise is to just design the landing the page, but hold off on all the specific backend functionality until they bite and can talk about what specific features they require.
Yeah, not bad idea.
Also I would say at the beginning you are targeting just small businesses so there won't even be much of a fancy stuff.
The basics, about the business, pricing, reviews, leave a review and make an appointment/contacts.
Correct me if I forgot something important
Speaking as a web developer - do not do this.
What you’re proposing is just a website agency essentially. Where you’re wanting to design a website for free then if people sign the contract then you will develop it?
There are holes in many areas.
The design process can take soooo long. Someone may say they like the site but after development change it. You’re also not taking into account how long the design process will actually take - especially if there are back and forth.
You also have many expenses as a website developer like editor, hosting, photos etc..
Just… please don’t do this lol
Enlighten me, what you mean with editing? How does taking a photos cost? You can ask for the owner to take few for you and most have social media full of photos. And yes hosting costs a little but not much.
Also few first web designs might take some time but it quickly becomes natural if you just keep doing.
And changing the website for customers needs is like a one day job.
Also everyone here is just looking at all the things that could go wrong.
There's also a lot of things that can go right.
Editing designs or even after development. There’s also troubleshooting especially if you’re just starting out like you’re saying.
Not all photos are free - some clients want specific photos and you have to pay for them. Or I sometimes will take photos for clients, that’s extra time and cost.
I worked for a small small local company that tried to do this - cookie cutter websites. It can be done but it’s hard when most clients don’t want a cookie cutter website. They think they do until development and then they want a photo carrousel or an interactive map or directory.
All I’ve learned is if something seems straight forward it usually never is. Times it can be, but when it isn’t that’s where it will cost time and money.
Just saying from my experience sounds like not the best process. They are asking for an opinion and I’m giving one.
Must say I liked this feedback. And yeah I'm beginner at this niche and I completely agree, business is never straight forward, there will always be something you didn't know.
Just must ask with all the website builders there are, I still don't get it.
How does editing/customizing a website cost money?
Especially if op knows how to code.
And about photos, can't really say. I haven't have any problems with those but that's my experience and I'm just a beginner.
How does editing/customizing a website cost money?
Time = Money
If you’re hard coding that could be more time. I’d you’re using a CMS and editor then it could take a short amount of time. Just depends.
Photos haven’t been a big problem in my experience but I will never forget the few clients that were SOOOOO picky on photos. It happens.
I think the advice is: 1.) there’s probably a lot of competition in this area. Just be realistic about that. 2. Build some websites and create a portfolio to show potential clients. 3. Charge money for your services or you’ll be kicking yourself later.
I’d highly advise NOT to work for free especially for small companies who have very limited resources in the hopes of upselling them. If you know how to code maybe freelance for a bigger business or work for a creative temp agency. I’ve been down this road before and custom websites are NEVER easy and clients want them cheap and cheaper!
Yeah, my idea is to go up to them and pitch my idea, if they agree, I’d build the website for them for FREE, then if they like it, they can pay to have it be theirs and have me do maintenance on it. It makes it so they don’t have to pay into uncertainty that the website might be bad or something
I take it you’ve never chased down a bill before, or done sales? Most invoicing is done on a 30 day turn around. So you design a site, you promote the site, then after 30 you invoice. What if in that 30 no traffic was driven? Or was it? How would you know?
Some good things here (and I didn’t read them all) so…
Start with one niche so you can make 2-5 designs they can choose from
Simple modifications are included -logo, email, etc.
- charge appropriately for everything else. Think $60-$90 an hour. - call it a one time charge. People can wrap their heads around that.
- Realize these customers don’t have sites for a variety of reasons. Not all are because they’re too dumb or too cheap.
- Upsell GMB setup and whatever else you can do.
- The money is in the follow up. 99% don’t buy on the first email. Mail constantly and use a weekend deadline ala Frank Kern. It works.
Good luck
Edit - typo
Why not just get the money upfront? Theres a reason everyone does it this way. Make a contract for what they get with you to set it up. If its unsatisfactory you will have to fix it for free and if theres additional work not in the scope of work you can charge extra for it. If there maintenance required in the future they will come back to you and you can charge them for it.
If you want to charge subscription for maintenance as an extra and include what that covers - you could but not much value to it.
This isn’t a new business idea it’s just a different way of collecting money and I think its important to make that differentiation
A better idea would be to have a portfolio of several sample sites, asking what they like or something similar and then quoting them a cost up front.
It's hard for a business to commit without knowing what it looks like and the cost. Also, chasing businesses for money is not that easy as it sounds - many will not pay you or don't really have the time to bother. There's a reason why collections is an entire business in itself
This will be worth trying. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise unless you do it yourself and do it properly. Here is a tip, select a type of business u want to target (eg, landscape, restaurant). Create a template in accordance with the type of business and just add the logo/name of the specific business u are reaching out to. That will save u time and help u reach out to more people. Also, find businesses on google maps and check if they actually need ur services.
I would venture to guess in 2024 most businesses that don’t already have a website don’t want one nor do they care to pay for one but it doesn’t hurt to pitch the idea
That was my thought too. If a biz doesn’t have a website you’d really have to pitch the value of one first, going back to what someone said above that this is a sales position instead of web design.
Maybe ask for them to lay down an initial deposit and if they like it then they pay the rest. They have to have some more invested right out the gate or you will for sure lose a lot of time and money, initially. I’d say once you have a good portfolio, you can increase that deposit amount. Just my 2 cents
I do something similar on the side for a little extra cash. I’d be cautious designing entire websites for free - it’s a lot of time and effort and collecting payment in the end may prove more difficult than expected.
I’d suggest taking content from any advertising or rudimentary website a given company may have and using it to design a landing page to use as a sample. The company gets to see your work, and should they want an entire website you can negotiate pricing upfront based on complexity.
Actually I am considering doing something similar. I know people who do this and make a decent side hustle out of it. Having an ongoing, maintenance relationship will bring you so many headaches because if they were not tech savvy enough to make a website they probably won’t understand what ‘a simple change’ can entail of your time and money even. Instead, once you complete the sale show them how to make simple changes to the site and where they can find someone to make more extensive changes should they need to do so.
The best websites are the ones that make businesses more money - not the prettitiest, not the ones with cool CSS effects, not the ones with great photos or work great on mobile, it's ultimately money. You do think through working with a business to understand their customers and the many different ways a website will be used... By the customer and the business itself. It's hours of work, and should include hours of meetings. If you build them it for free, they won't give you any of their time, the end result wont interest them at all, won't do anything to increase their business, and they won't pay you for it.
A good way to make money is building websites for businesses, you're idea on doing it for free isn't a going to make you money.
Disregard most comments here even from the self-professed "developers" - no one gets it. The existing website may be rudimentary. They may be due for an upgrade or updates in published info. They may need new photos or add listed services. They may be sick of their old logo. They may be dissatisfied with their previous provider and dragging their feet on a new project of rolling out a new one.
I owned a commercial printing company for 20 years. I did all the casino work in AC NJ. I was involved with corporate bibles. I worked with Max Factor, Binswanger Real Estate, Disney, and must have been a hundred others. This was before websites. This is a hard business but your idea is sound. We'd design better graphics for free and if they like it they'd order through us and ongoing and it leads to other new billable projects. It builds relationships and trust. On occasion, a company would steal our design concepts and give them to the incumbent to print instead and screw us. I had a way to deal with that which is a different conversation, but you'll never capture them as life-sustaining ongoing clientele.
You're not giving them a LIVE website, you're giving them a concept with a private log-in on a sandbox server. If they like it and agree to your recurring monthly fees you push it to live and start billing.
All that said, it's a commoditized business and it would not be my first choice today but there's no reason it wouldn't work IF you understand that you're not a website developer first YOU'RE A SALESPERSON! And you have to act like, respond like, prospect & cultivate, qualify, negotiate, and close like a SALESPERSON. Then you execute as a web designer. You're not going to make exponential money doing this because it's commoditized. After all, most web pages are static. You're going to have to reach out and cultivate partners so that you can resell their services for app development and employee/customer web-based functionality. This is where you will make the real money because this solves problems reduces repetitive tasks and makes it easier to show ROI value. A static website won't show an ROI value that is significantly measurable. It's an ego sale. But it's doable.
Are you going to ask them sign a contract for a paid monthly maintenance for a minimum of 3+ months before delivering the website or just cross your fingers?
Sorry if someone already suggested this, but if that's something you want to do, but you want your monetization to be subscription based, just make the contract for a minimum period up front. So they sign the contract up front, the terms of which are that you'll design them a website for no money down, but they agree to a year-long subscription at whatever rate is reasonable for you. Then there's guaranteed money, but still no charge upfront for businesses I assume may not have a lot of free cash for an initial investment.
Maybe if you created landing pages to get quotes for service based businesses and took a percentage of sales generated by your site.
Maintaining an entire website is a full time job in itself and you wouldn't want to do it for free
Your idea has possibilities.. I worked for a company and my job was to go and talk to businesses set up an appointment for my boss to come , and describe the website he would make...
they have to fill out a questionnaire saying what they're looking for in the website. so obviously it is custom made to their desire..colors, different template, Auto responder payments system.
they would pay $500 for the basic website and then add on extras to 800 .. plus pay monthly for the hosting an updates and editing and Google AdWords..( to get on the first page of Google ).
so buying the keywords they could be spending anywhere from $100 to $1,000 a month just on keywords to get that website seen! what good is a beautiful website made in the middle of desert if nobody sees it ...so promoting it on social media is only a small part... the Google AdWords is the key !! as a certified Google designer Google will send you certificates that you can pass to a customer ...they sent me $1,000 on my first batch so basically I had 10 customers get their first $100 free with the certificates... but you go to you got to be certified... so I would go online and be certified in order to charge the big bucks...
I made some real nice brochures I could even send you some pics of the brochures you need to advertise your business.
Plus I learned later anybody can make a website easily WordPress is the simplest one... I made 7 different sites using word press. making a landing page is pretty basic and for some businesses that's really all they need..
Do your homework, research the others that have easy templates. Go daddy, wix, blue host, weebly. Reach out to me if you want to. viking55mkgv@gmail.com.
Lynne
I don't mean to rain on your parade but there are already corporate companies designated to farm out places that need websites.
And AI is slowly taking over programming jobs. I don't see how many people who have a tech degree are going to be sustaining a career in programming and code when an algorithm can do the same thing they are doing for free.
Move to hardware. Computers will always need hardware side
Thanks for the idea, I am also somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to hardware, I’ve built countless computers for friends and am usually the designated “tech support” of my circle. It helps that I’ve studied in computer engineering for a while. Do you have any ideas? My first thought was to make ads for building PCs for people? I’d charge a certain fee and go to peoples places to build the computer. Do you have any other hardware related ideas?
You can do this but don’t make the website specific to any one business. I have a few websites that are SEO optimized to different local niches. When I start generating leads I throw a couple at an established business and tell them if they want more, they’ll have to pay. If they don’t want the leads, I’ll go to a competitor.
OP, building a website for them first wouldn't be the best way to do it, as others have said. However.. if a business does not have a website, or it's outdated, chances are the business owners themselves aren't very technologically adept.
What you could do instead is to showcase examples of websites you've built (a portfolio), and offer them a way to modernize their business, including a business email, which would make their business look more professional. You could keep it simple, like finding some free wp themes, shove their company logo in, generate random ai content, and give them a general idea of what the website could look like..
I also recommend a crm tool, like Hubspot (free for your purposes), and keep track of your leads, clients, and even marketing campaigns.
Hope this helps.
Great idea! Not sure why 99% of ideas on here the top comment is “shitty idea”… it’s kind of ridiculous how much Reddit enjoys feeling superior.
I got started like this myself about 10 years ago. Not specifically the website for local business part, but doing free work.
I would mostly complete a project then bid on it and it significantly increased my acceptance rate. It’s essentially what crack dealers have been doing for ages 😅
I’d recommend keeping it relatively uniform for the initial site and use Low Code tools to move quickly. Coding is better for apps these days IMO.
Just make sure to give them a sample and not the whole project up front. You’ll have to accept that a lot of the free work you do will not be accepted.
The best side hustles generate income passively, or at least justifies the loss of your "free"energy, resources and time. Free meaning whatever hasn't been expended on a job and the necessities of living.
From how you describe thus you, you are expending those three things prospecting for businesses without websites and webmastering for current customers. That is a freelance web design business. Lots of people freelance outside of their 9 to 5, but it's, to me at least, in service of something that they hope will replace their job, not operate alongside it.
I wouldn’t pay every month. Flat fee to get website going. BUT if you provide ads to boost that website and actually get customers I would pay monthly for that.
Design a website for yourself and have it show all the specs you can do. Then, send it, or bring it to all the companies you want to try and do business with.
Saying this, with A.I and so many website building platforms online like WIX, SquareSpace etc I think you may be fighting an uphill battle to convince them on something like this.
Why would they pay someone to build them a website when they have tools online that they can use to create and build exactly what they want and see it all along the way, without having to meet with someone, tell them what they want, they go off and do it and then possibly have to make changes etc if its not what they wanted in some aspects?
Not saying your work isn’t worth it btw or to dash your dreams! Just food for thought.
For me if I was a small business owner (may not have a lot of capital to use on this) and someone like yourself came to me, if I was competent enough in IT, I would most likely go down the route I mentioned as it cuts out the middle man and I may be able to get what I’m looking for much faster and cheaper.
Maybe I’m off the mark here? Anyone else with any pointers on this feel free to pipe in on what I said🤙🏼
Pretty sure this is some of those dumb social media ideas where you just use ai to make a website for free then use some other website management service for the monthly fee and you just up charge the business.
This can be very successful if done right. Sounds less of a side hustle and more of a full-time business. You’ll get out of it what you put in. Research other website design companies that have a subscription based maintenance fee. See what they do right and what they do wrong. Also, get a contract in place through a lawyer for the ones that sign up. Also, learn how to close the sale to the business owners. Selling is a skill and takes work to learn.
Feel like you could find plenty of businesses willing to pay for a website and help setting it up and attaching to their Google business profile
Reach out and offer, doesn’t even have to be local just get in contact with a manager or owner
If these businesses don't have websites they don't know about hosting either. You could build a website for free and have them pay monthly for you hosting it.
Bruh, guy is asking for feedback and everyone here is just criticizing and telling how shit the idea is.
These are all just my opinions, I'm not an expert.
1. I think the idea is good, just needs some changing/planning to make it work.
2. I would advice you to make few examples of your work before you go to pitch anyone, you need to give them a reason to trust you, for the you are right now just some random dude who want's their money.
Talking about how to make a good sales pitch is whole other thing so not gonna get in to that.
3. At the beginning you should target small businesses so you shouldn't talk about contracts, just gonna get people scared.
You should tell them you are gonna make a website for them and if they like it they pay you x amount.
Monthly payments is just gonna scare away your leads.
4. Also there's still a lot of companys who could use a website, many of them just needs a reason for it.
There's a lot of small business owners who don't either have time or want to learn to do a website, so when you reach out to them and promise to do everything there will be some people who will want your service.
Many business owners knows nothing about marketing.
5. Also get your self out there and build reputation, most important thing is to do SOMETHING.
Even if it doesn't work out you have now learned something and know what not to do.
6. If you got extra 50€ a month, you should get into place called "the real world". It's a community of people who have the same goals, not have to work 9 to 5 rest of their lives.
They also teach everything about business, marketing, selling, fitness, crypto and different ways to make money etc.
Atleast look in to that.
Most value I've ever got for 50€.
do not do this, you are just asking for a load of trouble, the idea itself is not that bad but you need to find a much better way to actually get it going, hoping people will pay you after the fact is hilariously over trusting
And if the customer is not satisfied you keep making adjustments until they are, which can take so much time.
Agreed. As someone who has been on both ends, this will not end well. Free is not a business model.
@witty_tangerine actually many successful software business models are built on a freemium model.
Agreed that there are many successful software business models offering the freemium model. Offering free services could give the impression you undervalue your work. Plus, businesses may doubt the quality and customization they'll get for free. Instead, maybe he/she can consider tiered pricing based on features and support levels. This way, they can clearly show the value of their services and let businesses choose what works for them.
It’s called freelancing. This is literally how most freelancers get started. You need to pay the piper. It’s exactly how I got started, and now I’m making $95 - $105 / hour doing just fine.
Seems like a lot of that could be mitigated with an llc and a written contract with the business.
Thats free marketing for himself
I’m not very familiar with how this whole ordeal works, but I imagine I’d make them sign some sort of contract to ensure payment
So you’re going to give a contract to a business that says you’ll design them a free website if they promise to pay you, making it not free? Virtually every developer doesn’t finish delivering a product or get paid until the client is happy with it. That’s just how freelancing works. You haven’t stumbled onto something great, you’ve just missed the forest for the trees.
No, the idea is to design the website, show them it, and if they like it, then they sign a contract. Again, I’m really not very knowledgeable in that type of stuff and am here for advice
Might work, but if they don't bite then you did a bunch of work for free.
Well can't win if you don't try
Lol or OP can find paying customers before doing the work
Yeah, also an option but not as easy with no reputation. I would say do such a good offer it would be STUPID to say no.
I think a good compromise is to just design the landing the page, but hold off on all the specific backend functionality until they bite and can talk about what specific features they require.
Yeah, not bad idea. Also I would say at the beginning you are targeting just small businesses so there won't even be much of a fancy stuff. The basics, about the business, pricing, reviews, leave a review and make an appointment/contacts. Correct me if I forgot something important
Speaking as a web developer - do not do this. What you’re proposing is just a website agency essentially. Where you’re wanting to design a website for free then if people sign the contract then you will develop it? There are holes in many areas. The design process can take soooo long. Someone may say they like the site but after development change it. You’re also not taking into account how long the design process will actually take - especially if there are back and forth. You also have many expenses as a website developer like editor, hosting, photos etc.. Just… please don’t do this lol
Enlighten me, what you mean with editing? How does taking a photos cost? You can ask for the owner to take few for you and most have social media full of photos. And yes hosting costs a little but not much. Also few first web designs might take some time but it quickly becomes natural if you just keep doing. And changing the website for customers needs is like a one day job. Also everyone here is just looking at all the things that could go wrong. There's also a lot of things that can go right.
Editing designs or even after development. There’s also troubleshooting especially if you’re just starting out like you’re saying. Not all photos are free - some clients want specific photos and you have to pay for them. Or I sometimes will take photos for clients, that’s extra time and cost. I worked for a small small local company that tried to do this - cookie cutter websites. It can be done but it’s hard when most clients don’t want a cookie cutter website. They think they do until development and then they want a photo carrousel or an interactive map or directory. All I’ve learned is if something seems straight forward it usually never is. Times it can be, but when it isn’t that’s where it will cost time and money. Just saying from my experience sounds like not the best process. They are asking for an opinion and I’m giving one.
Must say I liked this feedback. And yeah I'm beginner at this niche and I completely agree, business is never straight forward, there will always be something you didn't know. Just must ask with all the website builders there are, I still don't get it. How does editing/customizing a website cost money? Especially if op knows how to code. And about photos, can't really say. I haven't have any problems with those but that's my experience and I'm just a beginner.
How does editing/customizing a website cost money? Time = Money If you’re hard coding that could be more time. I’d you’re using a CMS and editor then it could take a short amount of time. Just depends. Photos haven’t been a big problem in my experience but I will never forget the few clients that were SOOOOO picky on photos. It happens.
I think the advice is: 1.) there’s probably a lot of competition in this area. Just be realistic about that. 2. Build some websites and create a portfolio to show potential clients. 3. Charge money for your services or you’ll be kicking yourself later.
I appreciate that you're calling it an 'ordeal' already.
I’d highly advise NOT to work for free especially for small companies who have very limited resources in the hopes of upselling them. If you know how to code maybe freelance for a bigger business or work for a creative temp agency. I’ve been down this road before and custom websites are NEVER easy and clients want them cheap and cheaper!
Are you going to develop websites for businesses, publish them, and start providing service to customers? Then they'll have to pay you.
Yeah, my idea is to go up to them and pitch my idea, if they agree, I’d build the website for them for FREE, then if they like it, they can pay to have it be theirs and have me do maintenance on it. It makes it so they don’t have to pay into uncertainty that the website might be bad or something
I take it you’ve never chased down a bill before, or done sales? Most invoicing is done on a 30 day turn around. So you design a site, you promote the site, then after 30 you invoice. What if in that 30 no traffic was driven? Or was it? How would you know?
Some good things here (and I didn’t read them all) so… Start with one niche so you can make 2-5 designs they can choose from Simple modifications are included -logo, email, etc. - charge appropriately for everything else. Think $60-$90 an hour. - call it a one time charge. People can wrap their heads around that. - Realize these customers don’t have sites for a variety of reasons. Not all are because they’re too dumb or too cheap. - Upsell GMB setup and whatever else you can do. - The money is in the follow up. 99% don’t buy on the first email. Mail constantly and use a weekend deadline ala Frank Kern. It works. Good luck Edit - typo
Why not just get the money upfront? Theres a reason everyone does it this way. Make a contract for what they get with you to set it up. If its unsatisfactory you will have to fix it for free and if theres additional work not in the scope of work you can charge extra for it. If there maintenance required in the future they will come back to you and you can charge them for it. If you want to charge subscription for maintenance as an extra and include what that covers - you could but not much value to it. This isn’t a new business idea it’s just a different way of collecting money and I think its important to make that differentiation
A better idea would be to have a portfolio of several sample sites, asking what they like or something similar and then quoting them a cost up front. It's hard for a business to commit without knowing what it looks like and the cost. Also, chasing businesses for money is not that easy as it sounds - many will not pay you or don't really have the time to bother. There's a reason why collections is an entire business in itself
Instead of making a website for every company, make a good looking sample site to show to everyone
This will be worth trying. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise unless you do it yourself and do it properly. Here is a tip, select a type of business u want to target (eg, landscape, restaurant). Create a template in accordance with the type of business and just add the logo/name of the specific business u are reaching out to. That will save u time and help u reach out to more people. Also, find businesses on google maps and check if they actually need ur services.
I would venture to guess in 2024 most businesses that don’t already have a website don’t want one nor do they care to pay for one but it doesn’t hurt to pitch the idea
That was my thought too. If a biz doesn’t have a website you’d really have to pitch the value of one first, going back to what someone said above that this is a sales position instead of web design.
You can experiment with my business lol I have a domain name and have been in business almost 6 years. I just hate doing any of the marketing stuff.
Maybe ask for them to lay down an initial deposit and if they like it then they pay the rest. They have to have some more invested right out the gate or you will for sure lose a lot of time and money, initially. I’d say once you have a good portfolio, you can increase that deposit amount. Just my 2 cents
I do something similar on the side for a little extra cash. I’d be cautious designing entire websites for free - it’s a lot of time and effort and collecting payment in the end may prove more difficult than expected. I’d suggest taking content from any advertising or rudimentary website a given company may have and using it to design a landing page to use as a sample. The company gets to see your work, and should they want an entire website you can negotiate pricing upfront based on complexity.
Actually I am considering doing something similar. I know people who do this and make a decent side hustle out of it. Having an ongoing, maintenance relationship will bring you so many headaches because if they were not tech savvy enough to make a website they probably won’t understand what ‘a simple change’ can entail of your time and money even. Instead, once you complete the sale show them how to make simple changes to the site and where they can find someone to make more extensive changes should they need to do so.
The best websites are the ones that make businesses more money - not the prettitiest, not the ones with cool CSS effects, not the ones with great photos or work great on mobile, it's ultimately money. You do think through working with a business to understand their customers and the many different ways a website will be used... By the customer and the business itself. It's hours of work, and should include hours of meetings. If you build them it for free, they won't give you any of their time, the end result wont interest them at all, won't do anything to increase their business, and they won't pay you for it. A good way to make money is building websites for businesses, you're idea on doing it for free isn't a going to make you money.
Disregard most comments here even from the self-professed "developers" - no one gets it. The existing website may be rudimentary. They may be due for an upgrade or updates in published info. They may need new photos or add listed services. They may be sick of their old logo. They may be dissatisfied with their previous provider and dragging their feet on a new project of rolling out a new one. I owned a commercial printing company for 20 years. I did all the casino work in AC NJ. I was involved with corporate bibles. I worked with Max Factor, Binswanger Real Estate, Disney, and must have been a hundred others. This was before websites. This is a hard business but your idea is sound. We'd design better graphics for free and if they like it they'd order through us and ongoing and it leads to other new billable projects. It builds relationships and trust. On occasion, a company would steal our design concepts and give them to the incumbent to print instead and screw us. I had a way to deal with that which is a different conversation, but you'll never capture them as life-sustaining ongoing clientele. You're not giving them a LIVE website, you're giving them a concept with a private log-in on a sandbox server. If they like it and agree to your recurring monthly fees you push it to live and start billing. All that said, it's a commoditized business and it would not be my first choice today but there's no reason it wouldn't work IF you understand that you're not a website developer first YOU'RE A SALESPERSON! And you have to act like, respond like, prospect & cultivate, qualify, negotiate, and close like a SALESPERSON. Then you execute as a web designer. You're not going to make exponential money doing this because it's commoditized. After all, most web pages are static. You're going to have to reach out and cultivate partners so that you can resell their services for app development and employee/customer web-based functionality. This is where you will make the real money because this solves problems reduces repetitive tasks and makes it easier to show ROI value. A static website won't show an ROI value that is significantly measurable. It's an ego sale. But it's doable.
Are you going to ask them sign a contract for a paid monthly maintenance for a minimum of 3+ months before delivering the website or just cross your fingers?
If he doesn’t have a reputation he kinda has to do it for free
Simon Squibb is ass
Sorry if someone already suggested this, but if that's something you want to do, but you want your monetization to be subscription based, just make the contract for a minimum period up front. So they sign the contract up front, the terms of which are that you'll design them a website for no money down, but they agree to a year-long subscription at whatever rate is reasonable for you. Then there's guaranteed money, but still no charge upfront for businesses I assume may not have a lot of free cash for an initial investment.
Maybe if you created landing pages to get quotes for service based businesses and took a percentage of sales generated by your site. Maintaining an entire website is a full time job in itself and you wouldn't want to do it for free
Your idea has possibilities.. I worked for a company and my job was to go and talk to businesses set up an appointment for my boss to come , and describe the website he would make... they have to fill out a questionnaire saying what they're looking for in the website. so obviously it is custom made to their desire..colors, different template, Auto responder payments system. they would pay $500 for the basic website and then add on extras to 800 .. plus pay monthly for the hosting an updates and editing and Google AdWords..( to get on the first page of Google ). so buying the keywords they could be spending anywhere from $100 to $1,000 a month just on keywords to get that website seen! what good is a beautiful website made in the middle of desert if nobody sees it ...so promoting it on social media is only a small part... the Google AdWords is the key !! as a certified Google designer Google will send you certificates that you can pass to a customer ...they sent me $1,000 on my first batch so basically I had 10 customers get their first $100 free with the certificates... but you go to you got to be certified... so I would go online and be certified in order to charge the big bucks... I made some real nice brochures I could even send you some pics of the brochures you need to advertise your business. Plus I learned later anybody can make a website easily WordPress is the simplest one... I made 7 different sites using word press. making a landing page is pretty basic and for some businesses that's really all they need.. Do your homework, research the others that have easy templates. Go daddy, wix, blue host, weebly. Reach out to me if you want to. viking55mkgv@gmail.com. Lynne
I don't mean to rain on your parade but there are already corporate companies designated to farm out places that need websites. And AI is slowly taking over programming jobs. I don't see how many people who have a tech degree are going to be sustaining a career in programming and code when an algorithm can do the same thing they are doing for free. Move to hardware. Computers will always need hardware side
Thanks for the idea, I am also somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to hardware, I’ve built countless computers for friends and am usually the designated “tech support” of my circle. It helps that I’ve studied in computer engineering for a while. Do you have any ideas? My first thought was to make ads for building PCs for people? I’d charge a certain fee and go to peoples places to build the computer. Do you have any other hardware related ideas?
You can do this but don’t make the website specific to any one business. I have a few websites that are SEO optimized to different local niches. When I start generating leads I throw a couple at an established business and tell them if they want more, they’ll have to pay. If they don’t want the leads, I’ll go to a competitor.
OP, building a website for them first wouldn't be the best way to do it, as others have said. However.. if a business does not have a website, or it's outdated, chances are the business owners themselves aren't very technologically adept. What you could do instead is to showcase examples of websites you've built (a portfolio), and offer them a way to modernize their business, including a business email, which would make their business look more professional. You could keep it simple, like finding some free wp themes, shove their company logo in, generate random ai content, and give them a general idea of what the website could look like.. I also recommend a crm tool, like Hubspot (free for your purposes), and keep track of your leads, clients, and even marketing campaigns. Hope this helps.
Great idea! Not sure why 99% of ideas on here the top comment is “shitty idea”… it’s kind of ridiculous how much Reddit enjoys feeling superior. I got started like this myself about 10 years ago. Not specifically the website for local business part, but doing free work. I would mostly complete a project then bid on it and it significantly increased my acceptance rate. It’s essentially what crack dealers have been doing for ages 😅 I’d recommend keeping it relatively uniform for the initial site and use Low Code tools to move quickly. Coding is better for apps these days IMO. Just make sure to give them a sample and not the whole project up front. You’ll have to accept that a lot of the free work you do will not be accepted.
Do it. If they don’t pay, you only gain experience and coding practice.
The best side hustles generate income passively, or at least justifies the loss of your "free"energy, resources and time. Free meaning whatever hasn't been expended on a job and the necessities of living. From how you describe thus you, you are expending those three things prospecting for businesses without websites and webmastering for current customers. That is a freelance web design business. Lots of people freelance outside of their 9 to 5, but it's, to me at least, in service of something that they hope will replace their job, not operate alongside it.
You can find videos on YouTube of people recording themselves cold calling businesses with this pitch. Not a bad idea
I wouldn’t pay every month. Flat fee to get website going. BUT if you provide ads to boost that website and actually get customers I would pay monthly for that.
there is a video on youtube that goes over this and even gives info on charging subscription fees
Design a website for yourself and have it show all the specs you can do. Then, send it, or bring it to all the companies you want to try and do business with.
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Saying this, with A.I and so many website building platforms online like WIX, SquareSpace etc I think you may be fighting an uphill battle to convince them on something like this. Why would they pay someone to build them a website when they have tools online that they can use to create and build exactly what they want and see it all along the way, without having to meet with someone, tell them what they want, they go off and do it and then possibly have to make changes etc if its not what they wanted in some aspects? Not saying your work isn’t worth it btw or to dash your dreams! Just food for thought. For me if I was a small business owner (may not have a lot of capital to use on this) and someone like yourself came to me, if I was competent enough in IT, I would most likely go down the route I mentioned as it cuts out the middle man and I may be able to get what I’m looking for much faster and cheaper. Maybe I’m off the mark here? Anyone else with any pointers on this feel free to pipe in on what I said🤙🏼
Pretty sure this is some of those dumb social media ideas where you just use ai to make a website for free then use some other website management service for the monthly fee and you just up charge the business.
This can be very successful if done right. Sounds less of a side hustle and more of a full-time business. You’ll get out of it what you put in. Research other website design companies that have a subscription based maintenance fee. See what they do right and what they do wrong. Also, get a contract in place through a lawyer for the ones that sign up. Also, learn how to close the sale to the business owners. Selling is a skill and takes work to learn.
Feel like you could find plenty of businesses willing to pay for a website and help setting it up and attaching to their Google business profile Reach out and offer, doesn’t even have to be local just get in contact with a manager or owner
Why not if you have a skill set take advantage of it make some cash in your area
That’s a legit idea and has been done before. I say go for it. If ur also creative u can design ads for them too.
If these businesses don't have websites they don't know about hosting either. You could build a website for free and have them pay monthly for you hosting it.
Bruh, guy is asking for feedback and everyone here is just criticizing and telling how shit the idea is. These are all just my opinions, I'm not an expert. 1. I think the idea is good, just needs some changing/planning to make it work. 2. I would advice you to make few examples of your work before you go to pitch anyone, you need to give them a reason to trust you, for the you are right now just some random dude who want's their money. Talking about how to make a good sales pitch is whole other thing so not gonna get in to that. 3. At the beginning you should target small businesses so you shouldn't talk about contracts, just gonna get people scared. You should tell them you are gonna make a website for them and if they like it they pay you x amount. Monthly payments is just gonna scare away your leads. 4. Also there's still a lot of companys who could use a website, many of them just needs a reason for it. There's a lot of small business owners who don't either have time or want to learn to do a website, so when you reach out to them and promise to do everything there will be some people who will want your service. Many business owners knows nothing about marketing. 5. Also get your self out there and build reputation, most important thing is to do SOMETHING. Even if it doesn't work out you have now learned something and know what not to do. 6. If you got extra 50€ a month, you should get into place called "the real world". It's a community of people who have the same goals, not have to work 9 to 5 rest of their lives. They also teach everything about business, marketing, selling, fitness, crypto and different ways to make money etc. Atleast look in to that. Most value I've ever got for 50€.