

I am designing and developing free websites for startups on HN - alexwyser

I am a freelance web designer, and as part of an effort to fill out my portfolio and connect with new people, as well as provide a community service of sorts, I am offering free websites for startups.<p>This will include a free custom design as well as development using XHTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP/MySQL. I can develop a custom CMS or use Wordpress/Joomla/Drupal based on your requirements.<p>Any startup that does not have a budget for a professional website can get one. For startups that do have a budget for a website need to pay. However, I won't verify this, I will just take your word for it.<p>To get your free website, email me at alexwyser@gmail.com<p>PS. You are under no obligation to pay me or provide a back-link or even place an acknowledgment on your website. But if you can do any of them, I would appreciate it.
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byoung2
_Any startup that does not have a budget for a professional website can get
one. For startups that do have a budget for a website need to pay. However, I
won't verify this, I will just take your word for it._

That basically guarantees that you will never get paid. There was an article
on HN a few months ago where a freelance designer, stopped giving quotes for
projects. He just did the project, and at the end, he asked the client to send
him payment for whatever amount they thought it was worth. Some clients ended
up paying him 5 times what he expected, others half. In the end, it ended up
being higher than what he would have made normally.

You could try this approach...just build the website, and ask the client to
pay whatever they think is reasonable. You may be surprised, and it is
guaranteed to be greater than or equal to $0

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alexwyser
The main purpose of this "free website offer" is to provide custom designed
websites to startups who would normally not be able to afford it.

I AM asking startups with a budget to pay me, but I worded it in such a way so
that it does not discourage those seeking $0 designs.

I understand that some people might take advantage of this, but I expect that
number to be very low (in fact, I expect it to be zero), simply because people
are in general rather honest,

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byoung2
I was just suggesting that you change the messaging a bit.

"Free Websites" is a lot different from "Pay What You Want"

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MrAlmostWrong
If you want to fill out your portfolio then just create some designs/redesigns
of your own. Pick a niche and redesign it, for example online banking. As
admirable as it is to do free design work, it's only work if you are getting
paid and you will find that many times people will just take advantage of an
offer like this.

Let's not forget the headaches of having to tweak to the client's happiness.
Who wants to continue working on a site when you aren't getting paid to do so?

If anything offer a 1-2 page deal for $XXX. Better to have 2 paying clients
than 10 free ones that you can't keep up with. Get in the habit of charging
now so you don't feel weird about it later.

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alexwyser
I could always make designs for 'hypothetical companies' but I felt that it'd
be more worthwhile if some startup could benefit from my designs at the same
time.

Plus it gives me the experience of working with clients, as well as some
exposure.

~~~
byoung2
One technique I had success with when I was freelancing is designing on spec.
Find a genre of business and look for bad websites. Restaurants and hair
salons are good for this because there are usually really good ones, and
really bad ones. Redesign one of the sites, using the content from the site
(menus, directions, about us, etc). Then contact the business, and offer to
sell them the site. Send them examples of their competitors' sites (the good
ones) as leverage. If they don't go for it, you can easily swap out the
content with another business in the same genre. You can repeat this several
times, and when you are done, you'll have a nice portfolio, and several paying
customers.

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RiderOfGiraffes
In case you're monitoring replies, you might want to remove the typo from your
headline - it doesn't give a good impression.

Apart from that, good luck, and kudos.

~~~
alexwyser
Thanks a lot. Fixed the typo in the heading.

For the curious: It read 'anf' instead of 'and' :)

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alexwyser
I am getting a lot of requests. Too many to handle immediately. I have replied
to some and will be working on those design for the next 3-5 days.

Those who have not received a reply from me, I will design the sites for you
as well, but will need some time. If your project is urgent, then send me
another email with the word 'Urgent' in the subject and I'll try to get your
designs done as soon as I can.

Thank you.

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Alleyfield
Hmm.

If you're going to sell your work for free... Well, imo, you're making the
market of web design worse for every player of that market, which would,
consequently, lower the general bar among web design in the long run

But that's a bit far fetched.

The first comment has a point, if you haven't read that article... Well, you
should.

Cheers

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barrydahlberg
Do you have any examples of your work so far?

~~~
alexwyser
<http://www.alexwyser.com/webdev.php>

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gregorym
How can you be proposing free work when you have worked for huge companies?

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alexwyser
I actually worked with numerous design agencies, and the big clients are the
clients of those agencies. This is because most clients (big and small) prefer
working with their local design firm, rather than a freelancer online.

So while I have worked on projects for big companies, I dont have many
connections. I am trying to really break out of working as a cheap nameless
designer that design firms outsource to, and become a professional freelance
designer and developer.

