Hello everyone, I'm new to the world of website design, and looking to do something a little different.

I plan to help people who have no experience in running a website, or have found Wordpress etc. too complicated. Many people are just not interested in the technical side of websites, and want things as simple as possible, so I will aim to give them a simple website, which is very easy to update and maintain.

The idea is that they have to sign up to hosting through my affiliate link, and I then design the website for free.

Do you experienced developers think that's a good idea or not? I still don't know.

Working for free? Rarely a good idea, unless you are a very beginner, which for you might be the case.

There are a couple of reasons I'm planning to work for free.

- Yes, I am brand new to the business, and have only ever designed websites for myself.

- The web design platform I am using (Yola), is very easy for anyone, but also fairly basic, so I am offering to make simple sites only.

- Customers have to sign up to hosting at yola using my affiliate link, so I earn about $10 - 15 per customer.

 

That's the plan anyway.

Hello everyone, I'm new to the world of website design, and looking to do something a little different.

I plan to help people who have no experience in running a website, or have found Wordpress etc. too complicated. Many people are just not interested in the technical side of websites, and want things as simple as possible, so I will aim to give them a simple website, which is very easy to update and maintain.

The idea is that they have to sign up to hosting through my affiliate link, and I then design the website for free.

Do you experienced developers think that's a good idea or not? I still don't know.

 

I think you have your heart in the right place but you should only work from free on your own projects or team projects in which all of the members are also working for free to build something you all want to build.

 

I do not think you're going to be able to convince many clients to use your hosting in exchange for a free website. The reason I say that is that you're setting yourself up to be perceived as a very low quality service provider.

 

I've been there. I used to design websites for $250/each and I would get some of the worst clients you can imagine. Trust me, you do not want that kind of experience.

 

I would suggest building something amazing that you can then include in your portfolio. When your clients see what you have already built you will be able to find some who will pay you.

 

This is a business like any other. If you don't treat it like one then your clients aren't going to respect you.

 

If you ever need any advice or a quick look over any website you build to get clients do not be afraid to send me a message and I will help you in any way that I can.

I actually think it's a decent idea as long as your not hoping to enter the industry competitively - then you'd really have to up your game. Essentially, you're offering a free service and to people who aren't very technical or familiar with starting their own websites, they don't have much to lose. However, I would insist that you learn as much as you can about Web Design/Development so you can enhance the service that you provide because what your relying on by running such a service is that you know more about this region of knowledge than that of your client. You should also work out how long it takes to make a web site for a client along with the hassle of communicating etc and then you should divide that time (in hours) into the revenue that you receive from the hosting service to work out how much money you'd be earning per hour - a test of profitability.