Skills You Need to Go It Alone

You need many skills to single-handedly undertake a Web design project. Some of these skills are tangible - you must know some HTML and CSS and how to effectively use Photoshop and other graphics programs - while others are intangible - you must be able to provide good service while managing the project and your time and keeping the budget under control. This section lists and describes some of the necessary skills you need to fly solo on a Web-design project.

Managing the project

If you are doing most or all of the work yourself, you must be able to work on several aspects of the project simultaneously - which calls to task your project, time, and money-management skills - in addition to communicating all of that to your client. You can make these tasks easier by:

• Keeping Notes
  Get a notebook and write down what you have done, why you have done it, and what you will do next.
  
  
• Making a Special E-mail Folder for Project-Related E-mails
  If you can, set up your e-mail to direct all mail pertaining to the project to that folder. (Many e-mail programs, including Microsoft Outlook, Entourage, and Lotus Notes, have this capability.)
  
  
• Drawing up a Budget
  Your budget should include your fees for doing the work (Hourly Rate x Time = Cost of Work), fees for any contractors you hire, and also fees for project management. You should also include fees for extra services - such as image scanning or writing content - if you want to make those available to the client. Another possible thing to add is special software or equipment. If your client requires that you buy something, build the cost of it into the budget.
  
  
• Establishing a Timeline
  Clients often do not understand the amount of work and time a Web project requires - they just know that you make it look simple and easy. The process of developing a quality site is not quick, but creating a to-do list for each week (or day) and also marking deadlines on a calendar helps you track what you need to do and when.
  
  
• Devising a Troubleshooting Plan
  Technological issues are inevitable. For instance, multimedia elements sometimes do not download fast enough, certain functions do not work as expected, or layouts have CSS issues. These sorts of problems can take some time to troubleshoot and fix. Your plan for the troubleshooting process should include staying task oriented and not participating in finger-pointing. During troubleshooting, work with the server administrators and others that are involved with the project to find a solution. Communicate with your client, explain the problem and what you are doing to fix it. Stay calm and confident so that your client feels reassured that you are in control and dealing fairly with them. If you need to bring in help, tell your client who you are bringing in and why.

The bottom line here is that if you do not figure out how much time you have to complete the project and how much money is in the budget very early in the process - and communicate that to your client - you could end up wasting a lot of time and energy planning a project only to find out that the client is unrealistic in her expectations.

Serving your Customer

Part of a Web project manager’s job is customer service. Providing good customer service can help ensure that your clients are happy, and that can help you build a solid reputation. The following list describes four important aspects of customer service:

• Communicate Often and Minimize Jargon
  You must communicate often about the status of the project so that your client knows what is going on. Communicating with clients, however, can be a little awkward - do not talk down to them, but also, do not use a lot of jargon (which can make a less-than-Web-savvy person feel stupid). Try to ease into the techno-talk gently unless you’re sure they speak geek too.
  
  
• Stay Professional
  Web jobs can be a lot of fun for everyone if they are well run and everyone has a good attitude. Unfortunately, sometimes you won’t mesh well with a client. If that happens, you must keep a professional attitude, do the work, treat the client with respect, and just suffer through it. That’s business. However, in rare situations - for instance, if a client becomes abusive - you might find it impossible to continue working with that client. In that case, you must decide how to wrap things up with the client; you can either finish the job or hand it off to another designer. Either way, you must carefully explain to the client that they would be better off working with someone else. For those rare occasions when a working relationship goes sour, be sure that your contract allows you to get out of an abusive situation.
  
  
• Know when to Say no to a Project
  Accepting every job that comes your way might seem like a good idea. It is not. Some clients do not have the money or game plan in place to make it worth your time to work with them. If you are wasting time on someone who can not make a commitment, you could be missing out on a client that is ready and able to start a project. If a client is not ready right now, stay in touch with him. He will appreciate your interest in his project and might just give you the job when it is time.
  
  
• Take Only Projects that you can Execute Well
  Your portfolio and reputation are important. Delivering a good product is a great thing, and your client will recommend you to their colleagues - that is free advertising. Delivering a bad product can have the opposite effect - you might lose that client and anyone who asks them for advice on hiring a Web designer. This does not mean that you should never take a project unless you can do every part of it. If a project has some components you ca not do on your own, call in a specialist - make sure you let the client know you are working with a team. The fewer surprises to your client, the better off you will be.

Dealing with HTML, CSS, and Other Scripting

Web pages are made of code, so - no matter how you look at it - you can not avoid code. Luckily, basic Web code - HTML and CSS - is fairly easy to learn. It might seem complicated at first, but with practice and patience, you will be hand-coding pages pretty quickly. Many tools can help you generate code, but you still have to understand the code because sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and get in there.

• Even the most sophisticated software package is still just software and can make mistakes.
  
  
• Many advanced techniques will require a deeper understanding of the underlying code and how it works.
  
  
• Taking on an existing site to redesign or maintain requires that you know how to analyze the code that is there - if you can not, you might find that you can not work with the site.

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