It’s no secret that the internet is a very saturated place. According to Archive.com, if you are planning to put some sort of content on the internet you have 85 billion competitors! Today’s internet users are nothing like the past, gone are days when the internet was used solely for informative purposes only. It should be no surprise to learn that today’s internet users want to be not only informed, but entertained as well.

So if you would like to learn a couple of outrageous marketing techniques that can keep you afloat while others are drowning, then read this article. But if your happy with the hopeless feeling you get when you check your web stats and don’t mind sinking to the bottom of the internet ocean, then why don’t you go ahead and click the red x button in the top right corner.

1. Content

This is by far the most important aspect of getting traffic to your site, I know I know I said outrageous but before you call me a lair let me explain myself. Writing great content is marketing on its own, imagine someone accidentally stumbles on to your site and instantly like whats on it, then its referred to someone else and it starts a chain, then this people often comeback to see if you’ve posted anything to inform and entertain them again. That’s outrageous!! Remember the average internet user has no patience, so always try and keep it has short and interesting as possible

2. Ethical Mind Control

Here you simply create a top list or award in your niche, you can allocate a page for this or simply make a blog post on it. I’ve noticed that most people who write content are often focused on themselves, by focusing on your competitors you are appealing to their egos and insecurities, which they will perceive subconsciously and in return, they will link back to you in some form.

3. Start Page Programs Or Traffic Exchange

This is a technique that even experienced online marketers have forgotten about, these are free programs that will allow you to advertise your site to other members, all you have to do is view other members site. Simple enough and more outrageously its free advertisement!!

4. Killer Headline

Have you been to the grocery store lately? precisely the checkout aisle, well somewhere in between the colorful array of packets of gum and the chapstick you’ll find the tabloids.You cant miss it, glossy finish and outrageous headlines, if I could get all the money I spent on these while waiting impatienly to pay for my groceries; you probably wont be reading this. I spend a fortune on those you know why? Cause the headline gets you and you want to read the juicy details. Your headline should create the same curiosity, force your readers to read the rest of the story.

5. SEO

Search Engine Optimization, well I dont know to much about this to be honest, but the key thing you should know is always tag keywords and have a decent URL and maybe someday you’ll be recoginsed by google. Outrageous right?

The information contained in this article does not guarantee your success, it is purely a guidline to help you with your online success. Ultmately, it is you who will decide if your are to become successful or not, so don’t come knocking at my door when you end up back at your 9 to 5.

• Web and Programming - PHP, SQL, .NET, HTML, Java, C, MySQL, CSS, ASP, Flash, Javascript, ASP.NET, AJAX, SQL Server, XML, Windows, SEO, XHTML, Linux, Joomla!, Web Services, WordPress, VB.NET, JSP, Perl, J2EE, Visual Basic, Unix, Drupal, PayPal, Apache, Adobe Flash, DHTML, Flex, Social Networking, osCommerce, Facebook
• Design and Multimedia - Graphic Design, Photoshop, Illustrator, Logo Design, Animation, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Director, 3d, Photography, Custom Illustration, Video Production, After Effects, Cover Design, Video Editing, Art Direction, Music, Premiere, Digital Photography, Cartoon, 3ds Max, Audio Editing, Final Cut, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Creative Suite, Fashion Design, Coreldraw, Maya, Voice Over, Fireworks, Freehand, Voice Talent, Microsoft Office Publisher, Landscape Design
• Writing and Translation - English, Editing, Article Writing, Business Writing, Creative Writing, Content Writing, Proofreading, Blogs, Fiction Writing, Technical Writing, Online Writing, Web Content, Grammar, Report Writing, Sales Writing, Copywriting, Microsoft Office Word, Spelling, Newsletters, Press Release, Academic Writing, Letter Writing, Travel Writing, Non-Fiction Writing, Ebooks, Proposal Writing, Feature Writing, Medical Writing, Ghostwriting, Children’s Writing, Financial Writing, Spanish, Spanish Translation, Resume Writing, Journalistic Writing
• Freelance Tools and Software - Time Tracking, Client Management, Invoicing, Billing, Project Management, Collaboration
• Sales and Marketing - Sales, Market Research, Advertising, SEO, Marketing Strategy, Internet Marketing, Email Marketing, Direct Marketing, Branding, Public Relations, Lead Generation, Freelance Marketing, Event Planning, SEM, Telemarketing, Google Adwords, Google Analytics, Public Speaking, Google Webmaster Central
• Admin Support - Office Admin, Data Entry, Word, Admin Assistant, Computer, Research, Customer Support, Time Management, Word Processing, Typing, Transcription, General Office Skills, Microsoft Office Outlook, Telephone Etiquette, Travel Planning, Email Handling, Medical Transcription, Medical Billing, Telephone Handling, Event Planner, Helpdesk, Wordperfect
• Finance and Management - Management, Accounting, Financial Management, Project Management, Bookkeeping, Business Plans, Business Analysis, Financial Analysis, Financial Reporting, QuickBooks, Financial Statements, Payroll, Accounts Receivable, Tax Preparation, Accounts Payable, Financial Forecasting, Strategic Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting, Investment Research, Inventory Management, Corporate Strategy, Peachtree, Job Costing, Statistics, Quicken, Organizational Behavior, Business Mathematics, Lacerte
• Legal - Contracts, Legal Research, Contract Law, Licensing, Litigation, Corporate Law, Legal Consulting, Paralegal, Negotiation, Intellectual Property, Real Estate Law, Trademark, International Law, Employment Law, Patent Law, Copyright, Family Law, Insurance, Medical Law, Legal Transcription, Bankruptcy, Trade Law, Tax Law, Records Management, Immigration Law, Environment, Benefits Law, Compensation, Trusts Estates Wills, Product Liability, Consumer Protection, Privacy & Security, Antitrust, Commercial Lending, Creative & Talent
• Engineering and Manufacturing - Manufacturing Design, Mechanical Engineer, Industrial Engineer, Industrial Design, Architecture, 3d Modelling, Computer Engineer, Electronics, Electrical Engineer, SolidWorks, Material Engineer, Digital, Interior Design, Civil Engineer, Pro-E, Structural Analysis, Sketchup, Wireless, Chemical Engineer, ANSYS, Operations Research, Autodesk Inventor, ArchiCAD, COSMOS, OrCAD, Integrated Circuit, ISO9001, Rhino CAD, CAD/AutoCAD, Scientific Computation, Altium Designer, Electrical Engineering, MathCAD, AEC

For every busy web designer and developer, there comes a moment when they want to kick the clock so hard that it stops time in its tracks. For our businesses, time is money; however, we cannot just stop taking on additional orders because we have too many- or do we? If your answer is often ”yes”, I’ll tell you something that might change your perspective for the better. Suppose, you have multiple web designs ready for coding, project submission dates are coming on quickly, and your inbox is brimming with yet more web design orders, what would you do?

Do you push back delivery dates?  That’s not so great for your client relations.  Do you divert all your resources toward timely delivery?  Clients are happy, but you increase your stress and can push back other high-priority tasks.  When situations like these happen, hiring a conversion company may be your best choice.

That’s where xhtml.pixelcrayons.com steps in with its PSD to XHTML conversion services.  According to its clientele, case studies, and my own test with them, you know exactly what you are getting, when you are getting it and how much it will cost. 

PixelCrayons is an online service that offers effortless manual conversion of static design files into high quality XHTML. Essentially, the idea is that they can return professional-grade XHTML design within 8 hours! You can send your designs in PSD, JPG, GIF, PNG, AI and even HTML markup. Here are the two coding packages they offer, in addition to the various add-ons including layout options, markup options and integration services:

The Basic Package – starting at $99

• Markups: HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional
• W3C Validation: CSS, XHTML & HTML 
• I.E 6.x / 7.x, Mozilla Firefox, Safari

The Professional Package – starting at $199 

• Markups: HTML 4.01 Transitional, HTML 4.01 Strict, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict
• W3C Validation: CSS2 (Advanced CSS Code Structure), XHTML & HTML Browsers Compatibility: I.E 6.x / 7.x, Mozilla Firefox, Safari 2.x/3.x, Opera, Konqueror
• Includes: SEO Semantic Code, Load Speed Optimization, Complete Presentation Separation, Maximum Cross-Browser Compatibility

Work Process

Placing an order is quite simple, and the order form is self-explanatory. Just fill in the required blanks, and then wait for next 8 business hours for your XHTML design. You may upload your file in various formats (PSD, JPG, GIF, PNG, AI, ZIP or PDF) and can also have it integrated with CMS/ Blogging Engine/ Shopping Cart of your choice. If you want to mention specifications about your file, you can use the Special Comments Box. After uploading the file and completing the order form for the chosen package, an order-confirmation e-mail is sent to you with your order placed in the queue.

Client Support

The response time is quick and thorough. You would be asked questions regarding file related issues and other clarifications on design implementation and stuff. After a quick review of the work you need and clarifications over phone and mails, your markup will be available to you within 8 hours. They also have instant chat options where you could directly communicate via Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, Skype messengers.

Work Quality

The emailed markup is sent as a zip file that would include XHTML files and a folder containing CSS files, JS files and images. The quality of the markup speaks for itself, the coding is kept clean and semantic, and the CSS files are nicely organized.

Conclusion

Their manual coding provides cross browser compatibility, with equal clarity in all versions of IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera. The prices are economical and quality is surpassingly good. I think it is an excellent service if you need (and have the budget for) extra help in coding your designs, while maintaining the high-quality standards of your own work. So all in all, do I recommend Pixel Crayons for XHTML Conversion? Certainly yes, if you need a cost saving, time-saving and convenient conversion.

As a Web Designer you have more options and services to offer your clients than in most other freelance fields. Some of which take almost no work at all! From Web Hosting to SEO, here is the run down of the basic services all Web Designers should offer…

#1. Search Engine Optimization

As a designer you’re going to learn a bit about SEO sooner or later so you might as well just dive in. SEO services can stand on there own so why aren’t you cracking into this field? The resources out there are abundant so you have no excuse not to do it!

Try some of these as a starting point:

SEO Guide for Designers

Beginners Guide to SEO

Online SEO Tools – The Ultimate Collection

#2. Web Hosting

Either by using a reseller account or certain shared accounts (check your TOS!) you should be offering some type of web hosting to your clients. If you don’t have tons of clients knocking down your door for web hosting (why not?) there are still many cheaper reseller accounts out there. If you pay $9.99 a month for a reseller account and charge each client say, $5.99 a month then you just need two clients to start getting to the profit point.

When getting started, look for reseller accounts that offer customer service so your not stuck with handling everything yourself!

#3. Competitor Website Analysis

For those of you who net the established clients out there, then you could possibly be offering them a “Competitor Website Analaysis.” Basically that means you will be using free online tools to research their top competitors and then create them a (monthly??) report on these statistics. You will get information such as Number of unique visitors, Budget spent on advertising, their cost-per-click, demographic makeup and more…

It’s not hard to do but the competitor website needs to be established enough for this info to be available on the following services:

Quantcast
Alexa
SpyFu

(Credit: Jamie Mintun)

#4. Marketing

If you’re good at marketing yourself (and you need to be!) then you are probably good at marketing others as well. Depending on your knowledge in this area, you need to be at least offering some sort of marketing from your clients whether it be adword’s or any other type of campaign or viral marketing. There are tons of resources out there and the overload of information can be daunting but don’t let it fool you- it’s not complicated! As a web designer you know about branding your clients and yourself, now you just simply need to build awareness of that brand by setting up campaigns for your clients and monitoring that with analytics software and tools that you are already aware of!

#5. Project Management / Consulting

If you’ve worked on any number of “larger” web projects then you’ve had to be the project manager before. If you’ve also contracted out some of the positions on the project as well then you should definitely know how to manage a project.

There are many out there completely lost when it comes to getting an idea off the ground and then to completion. As web designers we build something beautiful and functional out of thin air every day. As any seasoned freelancer can be a top project manager, any talented web designer can be as well!

Set up software such as ActiveCollab and start adding projects and clients while keeping you and your clients organized by using tasks, messages, milestones, attachments, and so on!

#7,521. Everything Else!

If you can’t do it yourself… find someone who can! Contract them out and then offer that service directly on your website.

Too many freelancers don’t take advantage of contracting out projects. As a web designer, i’ve done many contract jobs for web design firms… some of those web design firms have absolutely no web designers on their team! When they receive a project- they contract it out, skim some off the top and by the end of the day they made money from doing almost nothing but handling a few emails! So go network and start to build up a list of other freelancers who offer services that you don’t!