Getting your idea off of the ground is the first step to making massive progress in any art form. Perhaps you’ve purchased this book and video series in hope of becoming a great designer, perhaps you’re looking for an opportunity where you can work from home with your own business, perhaps you’re trying to educate yourself in the technological world to make a powerful career move toward something more rewarding, or perhaps you have dreams of becoming a successful internet entrepreneur, either way you’ve made the most important choice of all—to get your ideas off of the ground and make progress. In the 21st century, building successful websites is essential to getting your idea heard, and the internet is a wonderful and amazing place to make these things happen—it’s magical. I’m here to take you on this journey. Before starting any design process, it’s important to realize exactly what you are trying build. Are you trying to sell a product or a service, or are you just trying to make a place for yourself on the internet? This is the first step to getting your idea off of the ground. Start off by brainstorming using the worksheet on the next page, it will help you get a grasp on what your website is going to entail and all of the wonderful things you’re going to do to your website. Brainstorming doesn’t require any special technical skill, only a dream that is about to be released on paper. The first step to making a dream possible is to first write it down. The second step, of course, is believing in your dream and having complete and utter faith that you know your dream is about to become a reality. Here is an example of a good brainstorming session I’ve had with my client:
Brainstorming Worksheet
Client Name:
Woman’s Networking Group, Inc.Business Description:
Woman owned business networking group who meets weekly and needs a solution for women to go to see eventsNeeds:
- (5) Five Page Website
- Home Page (Introduction Page)
- About Us
- Schedule of Events
- Members
- Contact Us
- Group owner plans to redevelop the non-profit into a restaurant within one year and also plans to promote this group alongside several other groups she and her members are a part of.
- Website needs to incorporate a liberal and empowering atmosphere for women to feel welcome and inspired
- Client recommendation: incorporate powerful images of women in art
- My recommendation: incorporate empowering quotes from famous female leaders
See, that wasn’t very hard at all. It took about two-to-three minutes to get all of my client’s ideas on paper and I was able to give myself a great starting point to the development of her website. Just by understanding exactly what her business model was, I am able to build a template of thought around it—which honestly, getting a grasp of exactly what you are trying to build is sometimes the hardest job a web designer can have.
I recommend, before beginning any web design project to get organized as much as possible. It is never a bad thing to know exactly what you want in your website and it will always put you in a position where you can achieve all of your goals. If you are building a website for someone, they will appreciate your organization and you will have a better chance at wining them over as a future client and many other web opportunities in the future. If it is an independent project you are building for yourself, you will appreciate in the long run having all of your ideas together so you can achieve your internet goals as quick and easy as possible.
Another issue many professional web designers have when building websites on a daily basis is that their clients are uncooperative in the “getting organized” process and they expect you (the designer) to handle the entire situation. You may not be too keen on building a website for a business you are unfamiliar with, but the best web designers are able to theorize (sometimes guess) their clients needs and present them with the best solution possible—perhaps without even knowing what the product is. This is Marketing 101, and it’s a concept which you are not going to learn from college or any book you find relating to web design on the planet, it’s something that you will learn as you grow into an experienced web designer and developer—all lessons I’m going to teach you by the end of this course.
