Uncaged Media

I think for any tasks that require more time and effort and less "creativity" you'll always find someone willing to work for peanuts and people willing to pay peanuts to get jobs like that done. Whilst i;ve had an almost disposable website designed via outsourcing before I'd never want to have my main business design or web work carried out by anyone for who English wasn't their first language and who didnt have a real grounding in or good understanding of the UK, our business and our culture. Afterall somethings just don't translate Internationally.

I noticed on Freelancer a number of posts for people who wanted a website cloning. Which got me wondering if you wanted a site that was similar in layout/structure/etc to one that was already in existance if there was any real benefit to having the original site cloned to be used as some kind of template? The reason I ask is I've got "a project" that is way beyond my very basic abilities to be built from scratch and looks like it's going to have to be done in small stages as and when I can afford the work to be done once I find someone willing to work on that kind of basis. Anyways there is a very similar online communtity site already in existance serving a very different industry and whilst it would need 100% new content it might be that having the clone of the site might mean I could replace the content one page at a time whilst keeping the site working. It's either that or I suppose I could build each page in Fireworks one at a time and have someone stitch it all together later? Any thoughts/ ideas/ insults?

I used (geta)Freelancer on a project to build a simple 4 page site for a wedding video company about 2 years back: It was an info page, pricing page, showreel video page and contact form. I needed something online quick as i'd been offered a place at a Wedding Fayre at a posh venue and I didn't have time to get the funds together to meet the prices the local companies were wanting for the same thing and the ones I could have afforded were talking about it taking weeks! The bids i got on the project ranged from around $100 up to around $900 and I settled on a designer from India who quoted $230. I chose him as his portfolio was as good as the designers who were wanting 3 times as much and his communications were written about the project i posted and not stuff that was generic cut and paste waffle. There were some very low bids which I discounted as the bidders had no portfolio material to back up their claims. The site was delivered quickly, the desinger worked office hours here so he would be available and we discussed things via MSN. The site was reasonable and It did the job. I reposted a project for the same designer to put together business cards,stationary and tri fold a4 brochures which he did for an extra $30. Overall it was a good experience. Though I only kept the site online for a few months as the design began to look dated very fast.

I know this is "old" but it's a great thread with some well made points about the freelance vs company man debate! Hope I can restoke the fire! As a freelancer myself I wake up every morning and think "Is another one of my clients going to go bust today?"

From a layperson's point of view I thought the site was really well designed. My only gripe was the text on the navigation could be slghtly easier to read

There's far less "paperwork" involved when your a sole trader, accounts are simple (and you shouldn't need an accountant if you can work a spreadsheet) and little things like dealing with Tax Credits are easier (and I might be wrong but I think you get more in working Tax Credits until you start earning more). Though as a limited company you limit your liability. As a sole trader you are a sitting duck as far as pretty much everything goes legally whereas you can, to some degree, "hide" behind an LTD and should it go belly up it's the company and not you thats gone under. Same goes for Indemnity and Public Liability...if someone trips over your website they sue you not your company. Just like if you accidentally upload that rough draft of the site where you photoshopped the CEO of the company onto a still from a donkey porn video and they loose trade as a result then again it's you that gets the cheque for damages and lost income and not the LTD. Then when you go under you have to declare it on your company stationary-a great sales tool! It's also YOUR reputation that then goes down the pan and not the LTDs as you can usually start again under another banner..much harder to change your name.

Thanks for the kind welcomes everyone!!! I think it's strange that there isn't more video out there. It's not like it's the mid 90s when corporate video was REALLY expensive!!! I totally agree that there are too many scam artists out there and you can't trust way too many people which is really sad. There's lots of great ideas out there which probably won't see the light of day until the economic climate changes, the government tells us we are all rich again and the banks start lending money to business start ups again....so never I gotta ask; if you were to work on something where payment comes in after the work is done from the site once it's live, are there not ways of protecting your work so if the client doesn't pay up you can take the site down until they do?

Howdy webdesignerforumers! I'm Antony, from West Yorks, and by day I produce promotional video content for companies etc. By night I (attempt to) produce (terribly designed) websites. It's mainly hobby type stuff or basic stuff for local music "artistes" and nothing I would ever try and charge for. Though I'm kinda hoping resources like this forum might help with that. Anyways my day job has led to producing video for the web on a few occasions (including one "walk on web" type project which went 4 months over budget due to "technical difficulties" but lets not dwell on that) and one thing I have noticed is very few web design companies advertise anything video relatated in their "services" on their websites. I was just kinda wondering what peeps experiences of using any kind of video company have been and if it's ever something their clients have asked for or if there's any kind of demand out there. I also noticed on here alot of dodgy looking requests for what seems to be peeps looking for web designers to work for free. If someone has an idea for a business venture which would benefit from having a web pro person partner up on the project is there a way of finding such a person without offending everyone on the forum? I mean I was once approached through a similar forum to partner with a gym on an online fitness video site. They wanted video clips of work outs their members could access at home similar to what mens health has for paid members. They could only offer payment at the back end (similar to a participation deal for DVD) and if it worked i'd see more money over time than I would if i'd simply billed them upfront-which I know they would have struggled to pay. Anyways I gave it a chance and in the end it went tits up as someone did a runner with the contents of the safe and insurance wouldnt pay out due to some technicality and they eventually closed. Though I would hope there are people on here with more positive stories than that?