Subject: Re: ANY IDEAS? Tue Jul 28 18:19:44 1998 skipping the thread on caps lock entirely (since it seems to be crackling nicely without needing my help), i do have a few points to offer which might help you get further along. > i'm looking for some adivce on how to start up as being a for hire web > designer. i've seen a few sample contracts, but i don't know all the > legals. so far i have a bunch of very general info. if anyone can > give me some words of wisdom that they have learned through their > experience i would greatly appreciate ie. point 1: this is an awfully general statement. web design is a pretty big field, and seems to be getting bigger by the minute. back in '95, being a webhead pretty much meant knowing HTML and having a decent background in some other field of information management or presentation.. graphic design, desktop publishing, coding, etc. these days, there are sub-specialties in every area a person could hope to enter. i'm on a team which is getting set to freelance a very large project, and we've been lucky enough to find people who are really hot specialists in project management, document manipulation, file structures, proprietary document format translation, information architecture, and a bunch of things i can't remember off the top of my head. each and every one of us is good enough in our own area of strength that we have a deep respect for the strengths of the others, and are willing to pass responsibility off to whoever's best. we're also using nearly every contract structure under the sun to handle the business arrangements, from work-for-hire to indentured servitude. i personally am having to learn quite a lot about the liability issues of serialized subprojects operated and maintained by select partners and contrators under the general charter of a limited-liability company, just so i can keep talk to the people who are doing the legal (legals.. forgot them.. we have some very, very good ones on the team) stuff without having them give me that look normally reserved for puppies and small children with bladder control problems. from the general tone of your statements, i gather that you're still in the process of looking for an area where you can dig in and set up housekeeping. that's cool.. everybody has to start there, because none of us sprang full-grown from the skull of Zeus as Professional Web Developers. OTOH, we can't point you towards any handy shortcuts to PWD status because we just don't know of any - and believe me, we've all looked hard for one. ;-) point 2: the request for a URL or portfolio is nearly a reflex among professionals (especially on this list), because it's the fastest and easiest way of finding out how your area of emphasis relates to mine, hers, his, and the rest of the gang's over there. it's also the first, last, and only question that really matters to a client: "what can you do, and how good are you at it?" if you want to see rude, sit across the table from half a dozen digerain'ti (non-web-literates.. oppose: digirati) with a lot of money to spend, and all the insecurities of being WAY out of their depth. you can tell when it's a "friendly" session, because you don't start praying for a grenade until fifteen or twenty minutes in. > ps--- i was looking into seeing if i could take a tour of a web > design co and see how everthing is done from step 1------->end. is > that a good idea? i'm desprate for some real info. this will sound like a complete tangent, but bear with me.. it actually is relevant: one of the things every early-to-mid-level writer tries to do (after learning that the "dead pet" story has slightly less market appeal than 'it was a dark and stormy night..') is write a piece about a writer. it's a natural part of their self-examination, and let's face it, anyone who writes knows just how much of a kick in the pants it can be to hit the zone and start having the work write itself.. it's exciting as hell, and our fledgling author wants to share that with the rest of the world. thing is, in a good 999,999 out of 1,000,000 cases, such stories are absolute crap. the problem is that good writing has an active voice.. it's about things happening, not states of being. the act of creation, on the other hand, revolves almost entirely around states of being.. specifically the practice of tapping bubble after bubble of potential reality to see which one rings out most like whatever the writer wants to convey. it's a lot like panning for gold: arduous as hell, fantastically rewarding.. and about as much fun to watch as a top-loading washing machine. the point is that unless you can find a guru who understands what they do well enough to explain it to somebody else, you won't learn much of from watching a project in flight. if you find a good firm, you might get to see the mechanics of several good techniques in action, but it's still like trying to learn how to be a mechanic by watching an Indy pit crew. things are going to go past too quickly for you to focus on them, and you won't have seen all the hard work that went into deciding what should happen when. there's a quote i pull out every time someone asks for the secret of the 'net: "a guru is somebody who's two pages ahead of you in the manual." because making a place for oneself on the 'net is an ongoing process where you keep stuffing bits of experience in your "been there, done that" bag. all the information you acquire will seem general and out of context until you actually place yourself in situations where the generalitites are constrained by given circumstances. the best advice i can give you is to go out and experiment with things you want to learn in a context where you can experiment, backtrack, and do things over. keep your projects small and well-defined, so you can find out what you want to know as quickly as possible, then move on to something else. that applies to HTML, interview techniques (hey, why /not/ apply for jobs you have no intention of taking.. it gives you an excuse to keep your CV up to date and wear your interview suit once in a while), client pitch sessions, or contract negotiations. the more iterations you have under your belt, the more specific the questions you'll be ready to ask. a final, parting pearl of wisdom, based on many, many trips nose-first thru' the gravel: keep good notes. you can waste more time repeating crud you've already done, and spelunking your way through quick & dirty fixes that were never cleaned up like you meant to do, than on anything else in the known universe. any time you find yourself saying, "dammit, where was that?", you're in a situation where you need to keep better notes. the time you save not backing up is time that can be used to get farther ahead.