How to Add Value to Your Web Design Business

You can become the best web designer in the world, but if you don’t know how to get your business going, your talent can only get you so far.

This is how the interview with Brian Hoff starts. And his statement reflects the reality of most web design professionals – great talent but poor business acumen.

You might say that you aren’t running a business because you’re both the boss and the employee. However, it takes a lot of business savvy to get projects that will sustain you in the long run.

Aside from being business savvy, a great factor in building relationships with your clients is to be able to show them the value you bring to the business.

However, you can’t help but not believe some of the information you read, simply because you are afraid it won’t work.

Brian Hoff, however, sheds to light how you can do this. Being able a web designer and entrepreneur himself, Brian has the inside knowledge of how to do this. He gained it from his experiences with different clients, including Derek Halpern and Outbrain.

The Value of Stepping Away from Work

One of the downsides of being a freelancer is you tend to overwork or spend most of your time in front of the computer. The common thinking is that when you put in lots of work, you are being productive. However, what happens is the opposite – overwork robs your productivity and efficiency while staying away from work on a regular basis increases productivity.

How does this affect how you add value to your web design business?

Taking a break from your work and things unrelated to web design make you happier and your mind more focused. Being excited about a certain project is great; however, this feeling does not last long. Stepping away from work breaks boredom and helps you back on track. When you’re focused, you can make plans and strategies that are essential to the growth of your web design business.

Adding Value When Web Design is Dead, or is It?

When the topic about “Web Design is Dead” became viral, it caused panic in some. With this comes the question why then do you have to spend a lot of money on web design when you can just get a template, specifically free, on WordPress?

Brian Hoff gives a good analogy to this issue by using the clothes retail industry – Target versus the high-end clothing stores. Target does a great job in selling low-end clothes, like a $3 shirt while, on the other end of the spectrum, Bonobos sells shirts at $20.

Why the price difference when they are just shirts? That’s because the other one takes great care in each design detail making the wearer feel great when they put it on. People notice how good the logo is or how well each stitch is carefully crafted.

So why would your client spend money on a customized design? Because it will make his business look good. Moreover, it is specifically crafted to meet his needs. When your client sees how your design solves his pain points, you add value to your work.

Conclusion

Adding value to your web design business isn’t about overworking yourself but also being able to stay happy and focused, which can be achieved by taking regular breaks from your work. This will allow you to re-strategize and re-focus.

Adding value also means creating design that will make your client’s business look good, a design that will help grow his brand and his business.

Watch the video and learn more from Brian Hoff how to add value to your web design business. Don’t forget to share the good news to others as well.