I want to make some money online without having to deal with picky assholes who have no idea what it takes to build a decent website.



Also, I build websites....I do not write copy for you, I do not make up your business plan as I build the site....and no, images are not free. People suck.



Any website developers want to drop some hints on how to make money with my own websites? I can build just about anything.



I have no problem making 15 websites if it means I could make an extra grand a month.



Decent at SEO and web marketing? Drop some hints in that area too!

You seem frustrated folks want what you can't deliver.  A web site WITH content.

Porn sites.  Buy content and sell access.  Sell ad space with lots of annoying popups and redirects.

I think it would be cool to make a website showing how to tell the difference between different years of cars.  Like when body styles changed and how to spot the little differences.  Especially for really old cars like 40s and 50s era.

Good luck w the money thing though.

Build yourself a simple menu to slide across the desk to a client, that has all of your costs built in.  Make it simple for yourself, and take out the hours of negotiating for every last little widget.  Look at how GoDaddy's website builder is priced, or do a google image search for "F&I menu" to see how the finance guy at the car dealership does it.





"Bronze package" - 5 static pages, email contact form, stock images included - $xx


"Silver package" - 30 static pages, live chat, stock images included - $xxx


"Gold Package" - 100 static pages - live chat, flash intro on home page, animated product images - $xxxx
 

how about links to some sites you've built?

Become a contractor for a good tech company.  Then you get to program and don't have to deal with the business side of things.

I use templates that I purchased so that I own the copyright to them.  Template A will cost you $XX to get started, and $X/month of updating (or $X per year if vary sporadic updates).  Template B is $XXX, Template C is $XXXX and that customer has a unique template.

As for SEO, I quit worrying about google's algorithm years ago.  I used to try and get sites to be PR5 or higher.  Out of 40 websites, I succeeded in getting 1 PR5.  The time spent wasn't worth it.  Keywords and content are way more important IMO.

edit:  I used to use flash to get awesome websites, but with the onslaught of mobile devices, I went back to the basics.  Easier for everyone to see.

I hear healthcare.gov is looking for good coders...  

All my life I've been trying to figure out how to make a good living without having to deal with "picky assholes".  It's not possible people suck and they are part of life.  You need to figure out how to deal with them or you will struggle your whole life.  Trust me I have done my share of struggling with people...

I'm a marketing guy who picked up website development by necessity. It turned out I could make some money.....but I just want to work for myself.



I just find that I'm tired of dealing with clients.



There must be a way to create a series of websites or pages that funnel to a product site, wherein people buy something from me, but what?



I built a website in 2007 that ended up with over 5k registered members, just couldn't monetize it.



I live in a small town of about 14000 people and hardly any of the 100+ locally owned business have websites.



On top of that, the city has no good information available on the web.



Even the .gov websites for this city are horrible.



I'm thinking a business/event/recreation/school/everything directory.

you'd be better off helping local business optimize their Facebook presence and strategy.

provide content (like twice-weekly postings) set up promotions, etc

Partner with a designer who doesn't code- there are lots of them out there. Let them deal with the clients while you code and let them bring you new business.

Also start diversifying... Places like Squarespace are going to eat into your business if they haven't already.

I'm a designer BTW.

 

If I'm backed into a corner and have to set up a web site for someone I do it with WordPress and expect the client to provide their own copy and be responsible for the content.  If the client is unable or unwilling to put the time into providing their own content to the web site they have no business doing business on the web.  I'm an IT guy, not some kind of wizard who can guarantee them riches by going on the web and certainly not a business consultant who craps golden eggs.  If they're not willing to put in the time and effort to understand how to do business on the web I'm not interested in working with them at all.  If they want to give me a share of the profits then I'll work harder to make us all some money.  



Recently I had a client who did just that.  They signed on the dotted line giving me 15% of the gross in return for my efforts.  After they saw how it was going to work they suddenly had this idiot cousin who "knows computers" build this horrific looking Yahoo web page that is the functional equivalent of a guy standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign.  It wasn't 24 hours after that they started having all sorts of "problems" with the way I approached the project.  They owe me a couple thousand and I'm pretty sure they're going to lie and squirm their way out of paying me.  I will have my justice one way or the other.  Since I own the domain name it's going to get interesting in about a month.



I hate doing web work.  

So work for a large company doing work on their web platforms. There's a lot more to website development than just simple webpages with static content.

I've seen a bunch of these try and fail over the past 15 years. I'm not trying to piss on your dream or anything, but seriously, a lot of them.

Create an info product about how jaded web developers can form their exit strategy out of a market that is automating them out of jobs.

So you want us to help you create a buisness plan? For free?

you need to figure out what type you want your customers to be:

Jaguar car customer - very few but they have the money to spend

Honda - Has some money, definately wants a good product but will be loyal if you deliver

KIA - It's what they can afford but they want everything that comes with a Jag or Camry (let the students or my competition have the new small business's)

Don't waste your time with people you have to convince they need a website

I have made several sites for CVBs (Convention and Visitor Bureaus) that are basically what you have bolded.


if you were to make a site like that and have a lot of local business on it with the ability for visitors to comment and rate the business you should be able to build a large audience (With social media help)


Then you go out and sell some ad space for banner ads or use adsense You may even be able to add in some amazon affiliate links...
Coding is the easy part of web but content and seo is what makes a website
worthwhile. You can drop a turd into a golden box but it will still be a
turd.





Websites are never finished. Since websites are never finished there is more money to be made....





I make more money with SEO and copywriting than I do for coding or design (and I am damn good at both coding and design)





In addition to design/development I run adwords campaigns and ad campaigns on facebook.


I
also run social media for a few clients. (facebook promotions, tweets
and blog posts) all easily managed and scheduled with Hootsuite.





When I pitch a client I give them a few options. usually a vanilla site, then one with more bells and whistles and another that is just loaded.


a lot of the time clients may not want to drop a ton of cash at one time but you can work out a deal to add new features in stages.





Maintenance contracts are nice - you could set your self up to do x updates per month or quarter.
I have been pretty successful - I had one client get a 50 million dollar contract in Brazil because of their website.