I am starting to think...
 

And I was looking for a way to get around dealing with clients etc and was looking for a company to maybe do work for steadily possibly even part time, nothing exclusive, but something to take away some of the hassles of dealing with so many clients daily.

hypothetically, talking about something to match the money earned being freelance, but working more with a program owner/sponsor instead of doing so much freelance work.

What do you think would be the pros and cons of going after something like this vs working totally freelance?

Is your company looking for something like this?

Someone that is not just a designer but someone you would want to work with regarding your promo stuff, someone who knows traffic etc, knows how to convert and is not just a graphics guy.

I love doing design, but the more I do it the more I see basically people come to me almost as a consultant, want to know too much instead of just handing me a project and me knocking it out.

I am not a consultant, but I am starting to think about marketing myself a little differently and possibly going after something working more closely with a site owner.

Preferrably NOT a large sponsor with a bajillion affiliates.

I think having someone on board that can do design, as well as have other skills would be a bonus addition to any site, what are your thoughts?

no

shut up bitch :winkwink: hit me up on icq bro

Cheers Fletch :glugglug

i knew this thread would be a hot topic :1orglaugh

*as it scrolls off the bottom of the page*

Erm...too much thinking involved :glugglug

If I had a big affiliate program, I would hire you for some work,

its business related, you can't beat the juicy's cock threads:1orglaugh

just for the record, I do not have a big affiliate program:(

Its like this.

Some 19 year old hits me up for a $25 gallery.

We are on icq, I am trying to get him to pay me so I can knock out this one gallery.

Conversation shifts, "the gallery is for the hun, paid slot, have you any experience with hun listings"

"yes I design galleries for hun listings often"

"So what niche converts best with hun traffic."

"well this depends on lots of things"

"i want you to design a gallery that will convert good on the hun"

and so on and so on and so on...

I would rather work with a sponsor and design galleries for THEIR paid hun spots than to waste 30+ minutes talking on icq, spend time designing the gallery etc for $25, am I making sense?

this is only galleries, the questions and consulting peopl try to sneak in while having tours designed is even more.

I am only trying to be logical.

At some point it comes down to, how much is my time worth?

I am at a [oint where I am frankly just tired of dealing with people, I would rather knock out work for someone and know its steady and cut out all the other bullshit.

if I am here for money, it doesnt mater where it comes from.

If your getting so many consulting questions, maybe your new job found you. Be a consultant who also does design. Just charge them for advice or 30 minutes of questioning.

some kid saving up for 4 galleries isnt going to pay for advice either.

the point is cutting out having to deal with so many people.

its coming to a point where i will either have to re-evaluate this entire thing, or hire people and start outsourcing all the work.

Peole come to me because they want ME to do their work, many of my clients are very long term, and i get word of mouth referrals every convention that happens being there or not.

Its getting to be too much to juggle if that makes sense.

As I have seen KRl say, some are creative and some are business guys.

I am clearly not a business man, tell me the project and let me knock it out, i dont want to sit and hold your hand on icq for 1 hour for a single 25$ gallery.

eh i guess im just venting a little too.

You just shouldn't do single galleries. Set the minimum size of a single project to $500 or something.

hmmm, well not sure if I can turn away people for that. I do have regulars who order 40+ galleries at a time.

I have had people buying a $300 slot on the hun choose me to make their money back for them.

Kinda of hard to turn them away, but I understand about the 1 gallery issues.

Also, its not *just* the guy on icq giving me issues, that was an example. Its everything combined that makes it so hectic.

I have one on icq about one project and 2 amateur girls on another icq who want me to design their site and anyone who has worked with amateur girls knows how much fun *that* is.

its getting to be too much to juggle doing it all by myself, and I dont plan on outsourcing or hiring people.

This past months internext rush was insane, dont know if i want to see next year hahaha

again, just venting, and thinking out loud. Wanted to see what people thought about this.

and ya see, with my regulars and with something on the side, i could stop taking on new work.

money is money, it all spends and smokes the same

:Graucho

i know it's been done before, but that might be an idea in order to expand your company, and deal with less people...

would be great to figure out a way to scale your business up, or maybe just start your own paysites...

Why don't u ask someone to program u a "Vitual Fletch XXX" chat bot?

dont want to expand, and dont want a design company.

its hard to explain on the board.

we all have things we are working on, and time is becoming more of an issue than anything else.

i dont want to set up a big design business, this has always simply been money that I appreciate but i do not plan on doing this forever.

yeah, i know man. just that if you continue to do design as your backbone (at least for now), it's just a possiblity to get away from dealing with so many people. that would drive me crazy :)

Fletch if you do something like this you'll be taking a step backwards. Why would you want to do that? Aside from less stress...

One option is stop taking new clients. Only work with people you have worked with before or people that you know have money. This will eliminate all the consulting crap.

Another option is to hire a project manager. Someone to work with clients, develop their project plans, etc.

as i said man, we all have things we are working on, the things I lack others have with ease.

there are parts of the paysite thing I have no experience with, but I can do things with ease that others cannot.

i simply wish to relieve myself of some of the duties regarding being freelance and focus on things as well... again hard to explain on board.

i want nothing more than to just make my money and be creative.

fuck all the rest. we all do what we do and are good at what we each can do... im not a sailor, although i can drink like one. ;)

another good idea, for at least as long as fletch continues to mostly stick with design. have someone else deal with the bullshit, while he concentrates on design.

I was attempting that, but then I didn't get anything else done either. And then I found myself in conversations on icq, waste of fucking time. :1orglaugh

oh yeah and that resulted in like AaronM creating a drama thread within about 3 minutes of talking to him. Serious waste of everyones time.

i think i am an exception to this rule.

ive branded the whole *Fletch* thing, people want me, they want to talk to me, they want to email me, etc.... Cherry has tried to handle lots of stuff. But it doesnt go smoothly.

I am thinking outloud i guess.

I just know there is more and I am capable of more than where I am and I guess it finally got to me.

lol ;)

same here :)

I thought you liked the cyber. You always called me sweetie. :( Fletch called me sexy. :Graucho

as one of many options - automate ordering process. have people fill out the form, ask whatever needs to be answered before you even consider a job. :2 cents:

umm that must have been Fletch??? sweetie?? :1orglaugh

if this was paper i would cut it out and glue it to the side of my monitor.

either way, men i have met in person have not motivated me as much as you quiet.

thanks for the words man.

:glugglug

You've built up such a great name and rep would be be breat to capitolize on it

If you mean this statement, let's talk about burying the hatchett and getting you a weekly salary, paid each monday via paypal, with a "wish list" of things I want done that you work on at your own pace.

Or tell me to go fuck myself. I'm open to that too. :1orglaugh

Hey, I have people hitting me up on icq and im really just thinking outloud, but email me. I am beyond holding grudges and shit at this point.

My life has changed so much in the past year and I am really starting to look past the horizon. I have no desire to sit around this board holding grudges against people for business deals that went silly due to most likely miscommunication.

I admit I went to the board sooner than I probably should have, I was never in that position before and that is about all I care to comment on. So I overreacted and took it to the board, drama is drama and it gets boring after about the third page.

Having worked with you on so many different projects, I know how you are and if you are serious just email me and lets see what we can do.

Our past is the past, you took care of me even as bitter as I was about the whole thing. So I guess its only the proper thing to do is to at least hear your offer out. At this point, I am simply looking for ways to get ahead and do my thing. I have projects of my own and as you know from working with me, I get EXCITED about working on sites, i genuinely ENJOY making sites convert, working with promo etc,... its what I do.

As long as this is about YOUR sites and you alone, no partners ;)

Email me.

Email sent

Fletch XXX,

In kind-of same dilemma as you, two companies that I was doing their web design decided to save costs and do it in house this year.

I didn?t want to break the ties I have with them. But, damn?the phone calls and emails of asking how do I do this or that were getting out of hand. I finally spoke with both owners and said I like your crew but I am neither a babysitter nor a teacher. I lost a significant amount of work from you, and I and currently catering to my other clients needs and I would be happy to consult with you but my hourly fee will go up since I am sharing my knowledge.

One client is paying me my consulting fees and the other decided it was just cheaper for me to do their work.

Personally, I would rather hide in a corner and design, but if you know your stuff, consulting is the way to go. Just don?t sell yourself cheap?triple your hourly fee.

And, remember that you are giving away your knowledge. Laugh a lot to yourself when an easy fix is going to take you a long time to fix so you do not embarrass anyone in the company.

Good luck

you have a point.

oh, I miss our girlie chats.

:winkwink: