I am A beginner and am Thinking of designing a site or two for free for some company that can't aford a site to be created.What do u guys think of this Idea?
Thanks

A good one. Builds portfolio, most the smart developers do this to start of with, free if not cheap.

I don't think it will work. Would you make a high-quality websites with many pages for free? What If it's corporate which makes it harder? -- If you're a beginner, then start low.. but not very low to make it free :)

or if you want, give it a try for free & hopefully you won't get bored after creating a page or two.

Thanks 4 the responding.I am thinking about doing five pages for free.

Hey, already have the clients for this? :)

I started doing free and cheep sites for local businesses. It was fun and easy because they knew they were getting a free site from a local kid. In such cases, I'd stay away from getting too many jobs from the internet, the anonymity makes some people hard to work with, even if you are doing their site for free.

Originally posted by pmoduk2
A good one. Builds portfolio, most the smart developers do this to start of with, free if not cheap.
Good Morning
Thank You for your response! I Will be getting in touch with you soon.I need to let others post so I can "give" my work to the right person.I thank you again for responding to me. :)
2Click

Websites for free? If its just for fun.. then its okay. But if its business you should get paid. Afterall business is for earning money. Even if you get paid less no worries. Afterall you use your comp, your time, money to visit client etc.

Maybe make a couple for friends/family who own a business or make one for someone who has really helped you out.

You should have atleast 3 in your portfolio if your going to start making a lot of sites for paying costumers. :)

I've made sites for free, but for non-profit organizations only. Also, those organizations are related to my business which attracts real business.

If you intend on looking for clients in your area, then approaching a non-profit organization in your area would be a great idea.

I think its a nice idea.........

Good for you 2click

A good idea just to create your portfolio then start charging :)

Hey 2click,

I have a couple of takes on this. Starting out is tough and a portfolio is a must. I don't think giving your work to a business entity is a good way to build your portfolio, however. People in general don't appreciate things that are free. I would suggest creating some dummy mock ups to place in your portfolio. These don't have the benefit of a good client testimonial or reference, but will showcase your skill. If you do want to pursue creating a free site for someone, I would suggest a non profit or association that would allow you to show your logo off to potential clients.

Here are some pros and cons I see with this:

Pros:
1. experience dealing with a real client. I gain knowledge that helps me better serve my design clients with each project.

2. A reference / testimonial.

3. You can possibly get paid for updates if you work that into the bargain. Say after x number of months, they pay so much an hour for updates.

Cons:

1. Having free labor could cause the client to put the project on the back burner. Getting input, content and sign-off can be very difficult. No time constraints, budget overages can hold you up waiting for content/input and create expectation for endless changes to the site. Money is motivation. If there are no deadlines or financial penalties to either side for failure to live up to obligations you have a wide open project.

2. Who will pay for assets like stock photos and any additional costs that arise.

3. Will you work on this forever without cost? They most likely won't want to pay for updates when they are used to getting your work for free.

4. These people don't make good referrals. The first thing they will tell someone about their new site is that it was free, diminishing it's value to the person your client is talking to.

Creating dummy layouts will allow you to create the site on your terms. You can complete them quickly and the way you want. If you want to market sites to the hosting industry, you can create a couple of hosting mock-ups. Just clearly label them as mockups and I think people will get an idea of whether or not they like your work. Template monster sells a lot of hosting sites for "yourcompany.com".

I have had positive and negative experiences creating free sites for orgs. I did learn some invaluable lessons from them. This could be true for you as well.

Good luck and the best of success in your venture.

Zoren

there is a serious professionalism to this unless if its just a school kid with a reseller accounts thats gonna disapear when school starts YOU NEED TO CHARGE and local buissness WILL pay up for any FAIR work EVEN if YOUR NOT YOUR GREATEST just Y-E-T!

remeber YOU and YOUR webdevelopment skills are worth something

Originally posted by gilbert
remeber YOU and YOUR webdevelopment skills are worth something

Bingo. Even if you suck at design, your coding skills alone are worth something, as they are something 90% of your clients will have no grasp of, or if they do, not as an advanced grasp as you.

If you aren't great at design and know it, just design the site and improve your skills and when the time comes, if its a small site, redo their design for free. This will benefit you, becuase for one, you have a better looking site in your portfolio and your client sees that you have their success in mind and they will be more likely to stay with you. Your client benefits from a nicer, more professional looking site.

Originally posted by 2click
I am A beginner and am Thinking of designing a site or two for free for some company that can't aford a site to be created.What do u guys think of this Idea?
Thanks

hey why don't u design a banner for my site ? i'm use less at it.

i'll display ur banner in return?

What I did (before even thinking about trying to get a job designing sites) was make my own. I had three domains for various things - so I made three sites (very poor quality, I was just beginning), but once I had one finished and live, I would change it after a month or so. Doing this for a year helped not only increase my skills, but eventually gave me a nice amount of designs to show some friends/family of which I started making sites for (for free). This did the same thing - increased skill and portfolio, and eventually people were offering me money, and I ended up being hired to design sites full time.

Point is, you might try making sites for yourself as well. If you have a site or two you would like to do, then you benifit by increasing your skills through making it/them, as well as having a finished product that belongs to you.