Anyone making money?

[amino]

I have been online for about eight years and in that time I learned about the web and all sorts of Internet based technologies, I created web sites and in the end created a web design company based in Philadelphia PA.

I found that my clients seemed to want to know so much that I spent too much time showing them what the web was about and selling them on the idea of a web site that in the end I never made any real money based on the time involved. I would of made more money at another job.

I found that smaller companies and people took too much of my time and the comapnies that could pay, in the end had thier own developers and web design people leaving me in the middle.

My question is:

Who is making money now and what do you do?
Someone like JaguarPC is probably making money hosting but I mean designers. Are you one now or have you been and given up and moved on? If so what did you move on to?
In one way I think that everyone that wanted a web site has one now but each day the web seems to grow. Where are these people coming from? Any specific areas of the world?

Myself, I transfered my domains and moved from PA and live in OH now, I am learning about MySQl and PHP and still interested in the web but I have another job that pays my bills now and just wondered what other developers experiences have been. Do you advertise. Were you just lucky at the right time?

[zaw]

I've done some custom programming jobs before using php and mysql. I get the jobs from the job offers and request forum at webhostingtalk.com fourms. I've only done a few projects, I normally make on $20 or so dollars a project.

[JPC-Greg]

Hi Zach,
What is phpdirector ?

[zaw]

Hey, PHP Director is a site that is going to be a community for PHP Developers.

[techlighthouse]

Zach,

Can you keep us updated on the status of phpdirector.com? I've never tried php but know I need to learn something about it and this sounds like a good opportunity!

Thanks,
Jim

[techlighthouse]

I've really just started so don't know if I'll make money or not. Hopefully, though, I will. Just about anybody who wants to can set up a web site nowdays.

Seems as though the key is finding some clients that want good, professional looking sites and are either too busy or don't want to do it themselves. If you do your job properly they'll come back periodically for updates to their site.

I'm also providing hosting services via JPC for somewhat steady income that'll pay the bills. The site design will, hopefully, allow me to do and learn other things that will grow the business.

I don't expect to be desinging web sites for a more than a very few years. Anything we do there will be contracted through co-ops or outside organizations. Ditto for programming - I don't have time to relearn all that stuff. Instead, I'll be spending most of my time developing multimedia and/or web-based training programs for large and SMALL businesses.

Jim Winters
Technology Lighthouse, Inc.
http://www.techlighthouse.com

[g0lem]

That is a tough one; making money on the internet. I know a lot of folks who have tried but it seems the big companies which like you say, don't have to spend as much time with their clients, and charge big bucks based on their reputation, make most of the money. Part of the problem is everyone's expectations which are too high, especially the client - who thinks simply because he/she is out there on the WEB that everyone is going to beat a path to his/her website. Product is everything but even that sometimes isn't enough in a bad market economy. I think building a package deal, with a lot of features and offering it as a turn-key operation is probably a good plan. In any event, good luck with whatever you do.

I don't sell web services or develop sites for anyone. I know enough to do that and have done it in the past, but I find it takes all my time just to handle my own projects ..

Affiliate programs will never make you rich either.
Don't give up you day job...........

TheGolem

[Michael]

**** Following is my point of view, ranting, and maybe just babble ****

If you want to be a millionaire then change jobs.
I think the problem isn't so much in the business but in the society.

We just finished an INSANE period in history where the market was flooded with companies that had put all their eggs in one basket. After a few months they found that they weren't going to make it. Hundreds of billions were sunk into these businesses. The businesses promised double or better returns, usually based on some very strange calculations that a 3rd grader would have questioned.

This I think caused to many high expectations in what a web design company is and how much it can make.
I don't think a small business can make it only providing web services. I don't.
I provide computer services locally, making more money from that than the web services.
There is no way I'm going to get rich but I work for myself. If a customer is completely rude I can decide not to provide service to them again, try that working for someone else.

You may not make more money but life is more than money.
I wouldn't mind being busier and I hope things will pick up, but I am not looking to get rich. I'll be happy making the same money I would if I worked at another job.

Also you must consider the business.
The rate of tech development is insane, computers are still relatively new and the internet newer.
To most it is very abstract.
I think that the way to "succeed" on the web is not to expect the web to be the pot of gold at the end of the digital rainbow.

Of course this could all be the babblings of a person that works to much in front of a computer.

[haley]

I make a little bit. I don't work anywhere else, and it's nice to be able to do websites in my pjs sometimes. I do freelance design for other horse ranches/breeders and occasionally other projects. Fun fun. <3

[R45]

I can make a decent amount providing custom PHP solutions to small businesses, implementing PHP scripts to their sites, usually to manage content.