Open Source Content Management

After the Google Engage launch I am in panic state. I love doing websites and the design part.

But after seeing and researching, I realised how many web designers there are. A specially people who work on their own.

I work on CMS and design the templates myself now. Next step is to study html, which will be end of the year.

But how do I get over the panic state now?

How did you guys get over the first few months of worry about am I doing ok, how will I get this to grow more and all the worries connected starting your own business.

Hi Bracye, I build my own sites and have very little knowledge of HTML. I used downloaded CMS Joomla templates. Don't panic take each stage of building the site one step at a time.

@Bulktextads Using free CMS templates to build sites is a pet peeve of mine. Learning html is easy enough for anyone to learn within a month.

In the long run you will be better off. There is nothing worse then find sites made by free themes. Makes the whole site look cheap no matter how good the template is.

The problem is not with the doing the sites is with getting clients.

I have made my own and 4/5 others already. But my worries are to get more clients, because there are so many of us doing the same thing.

Lot of people are going into the industry but as long as your service is better it should do well. A lot of companies advertising on gumtree have some of the worst portfolios I have ever seen. Some companies still using tables to code.

You could also try going into a niche design area. Maybe only design for gaming companies or only sports related companies. I know a guy who only designs gaming sites and he is destroying what I previous thought was good design. He is now fairly well known for his work and is always busy with new client work.

Thanx Ethan. Will do some more research.

Feel a bit better now.

Hi Ethan, as I said I build for my own use and not for clients. Learning HTML is great and a big bonus. For my use it serves me well although I am no boffin. For myself its the content.
I am planning a new site in the near future that will require skills I do not possess and I will require expert skills.

Well Bulltext you know where to ask

I sure do, If you like you can send me your rates via private message then I will know what budget I need.
This site will require the best SEO, and must rank on the first page.

SEO is not as simple as paying someone to sort it out for you. Things like meta tags have to always be monitored backlinks have to be built up. Even with the best seo settings you can't control search engines which makes it impossible to control what page you will be on.

Trust me you not the only person who wants to be on page 1. If any company says they can get you onto the first page they talking rubbish.

Rather look for a freelancer or company that is honest and tells you that they will do what they can but you should not expect results over night.