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I did a couple of "unofficial" (read: under the table) freelance web design gigs when I was unemployed. Now I have a new full-time job, but it’s not in the web design field. And I think it would be a nice way to earn some extra cash on occassion.

How would I go about being officially recognized as a freelance web designer? Would I need to essentially start a business to get a vendor number, or something like that?

Please, only answer if you actually have a clue about this sort of thing.

Make a portfolio website. Maybe take a couple jobs for little to no cash to expand on that portfolio. Etc.

As far as being officially recognized, you could go ahead and register the business and get a federal tax id issued but that may be overkill at this point. In all reality you probably won’t get a lot of leads from the net when starting out but more by word of mouth so anything "official" early on isn’t all that important. Most likely the purchasing party will just 1099 you as an individual for tax purposes.

I have Photoshop design of a website I would like coded so that it becomes an ecommerce website where customers can purchase my products online, log into a ‘wholesale’ area and manage their purchasing. What is the best way to do this? What software/programs/services? Thank you!

Coding a site for e-commerce can be done in many different ways. One of the biggest factors is how payment processing will be handled. For example, if you choose to use PayPal – as many do that are starting out – your costs will be lower for your hosting. (Can usually avoid purchasing a security certificate.) This is because all the actual transaction data is handled on PayPal’s secure servers.
https://www.paypal.com/
Even better, assuming you know how to write your own HTML code, etc., PayPal offers a lot of help in their documentation and tools in getting you started.
Google Checkout is another payment processing company that works similar to PayPal:
http://checkout.google.com/
Google has more restrictions over the kinds of products you can sell, so read through those sections carefully.

This is assuming you want to code your HTML and so forth yourself. I’ll get into software that provides support for such things in a bit…

In order to take advantage of EITHER company’s fraud protection services, you will need to provide various terms and conditions statements – such as your returns policy – on your site. Again, read over the requirements and advice. (Good stuff, even if you never use their services!)

The next level of an e-commerce site, where the transaction process would occur on your site, involves a lot more stuff and cost. You’d need a security certificate for the site, and arrange payment processing through a combination of services including a merchant account setup through a local bank. Costs for doing such a setup is significantly higher, which is why I suggest waiting until you know your sales will produce a steady profit of at least $1,000 per month. Then again, such services will automate many of the details you will be handling yourself going the other route. (Thus saving you time and effort.)

As to what kind of software you might want to run on such a site… Again, there are a lot of choices out there. Rather hard to make a recommendation unless I knew more about what you were selling, how you planned to handle the transactions, your level of expertise in so far as handling coding, databases, etc.

Another issue in choosing the software is if you are looking for a commercial solution or open source (License free). Let me warn you, there are a LOT of opinions on which direction someone should go. Developers, such as myself, will always tend to go in one direction in this area over another. I’m not going to get into explaining the pros/cons of either methodology here, as I’m spending a lot of time on this answer as it is. Suffice to say, that’s a good question to ask on its own!

Good news for you is that software designed for ecommerce use may have plug-ins, or add-ons available to integrate with PayPal, Google’s Checkout, etc. (If going open source, avoiding the cost of licensing too.) But, this again is very dependent on the exact software in use.

Finally, assuming the design you have isn’t too complicated, a good developer should have little trouble converting that for use as a theme, skin, or template set for use with the software you plan to use. I would certainly ask the developer to give you links for similar setups that they have done somewhere before hiring them! (So you can check them out to see if they look nice and actually work.)

Good luck with your project!

Could someone tell me the average start up salary of a web designer with 3-4 years experience, in Manama, Bahrain ? This position is with a marketing / advertising company. I am a Asian (Sri Lanka). Also, state about the accommodation expenses and monthly costs for meals in Bahrain. Normally do Bahraini companies offer accommodation separately or do they include an allowance in the salary ?

Try to look at the salary survey available online

http://www.gulftalent.com/home/reports-20.html

For a start, you may ask for within the range of BD450-BD650 +
Accommodation and Benefits

A family member has a web design business but their current computer is out of date. I would like to get them a new computer but not sure what brand to go with. So I would like to know which is the best brand to buy?

PC type and brand has no bearing what-so-ever on designing a website. If you want to ask a more helpful question try:
What website designer software do you suggest?

I am just gonna go ahead and say Macromedia DreamWeaver. WYSIWYG – What you see is what you get.

I have Photoshop design of a website I would like coded so that it becomes an ecommerce website where customers can purchase my products online, log into a ‘wholesale’ area and manage their purchasing. What is the best way to do this? What software/programs/services? Thank you!

Coding a site for e-commerce can be done in many different ways. One of the biggest factors is how payment processing will be handled. For example, if you choose to use PayPal – as many do that are starting out – your costs will be lower for your hosting. (Can usually avoid purchasing a security certificate.) This is because all the actual transaction data is handled on PayPal’s secure servers.
https://www.paypal.com/
Even better, assuming you know how to write your own HTML code, etc., PayPal offers a lot of help in their documentation and tools in getting you started.
Google Checkout is another payment processing company that works similar to PayPal:
http://checkout.google.com/
Google has more restrictions over the kinds of products you can sell, so read through those sections carefully.

This is assuming you want to code your HTML and so forth yourself. I’ll get into software that provides support for such things in a bit…

In order to take advantage of EITHER company’s fraud protection services, you will need to provide various terms and conditions statements – such as your returns policy – on your site. Again, read over the requirements and advice. (Good stuff, even if you never use their services!)

The next level of an e-commerce site, where the transaction process would occur on your site, involves a lot more stuff and cost. You’d need a security certificate for the site, and arrange payment processing through a combination of services including a merchant account setup through a local bank. Costs for doing such a setup is significantly higher, which is why I suggest waiting until you know your sales will produce a steady profit of at least $1,000 per month. Then again, such services will automate many of the details you will be handling yourself going the other route. (Thus saving you time and effort.)

As to what kind of software you might want to run on such a site… Again, there are a lot of choices out there. Rather hard to make a recommendation unless I knew more about what you were selling, how you planned to handle the transactions, your level of expertise in so far as handling coding, databases, etc.

Another issue in choosing the software is if you are looking for a commercial solution or open source (License free). Let me warn you, there are a LOT of opinions on which direction someone should go. Developers, such as myself, will always tend to go in one direction in this area over another. I’m not going to get into explaining the pros/cons of either methodology here, as I’m spending a lot of time on this answer as it is. Suffice to say, that’s a good question to ask on its own!

Good news for you is that software designed for ecommerce use may have plug-ins, or add-ons available to integrate with PayPal, Google’s Checkout, etc. (If going open source, avoiding the cost of licensing too.) But, this again is very dependent on the exact software in use.

Finally, assuming the design you have isn’t too complicated, a good developer should have little trouble converting that for use as a theme, skin, or template set for use with the software you plan to use. I would certainly ask the developer to give you links for similar setups that they have done somewhere before hiring them! (So you can check them out to see if they look nice and actually work.)

Good luck with your project!

Hey,

If I would like to pursue a career in web design, what course is most suitable? Also, does it fall under design or is it more geared towards IT?

Thx
Hey guys, thanks a lot for taking time out to answer my questions, and they’re helpful

However, my question is actually meant to be directed more towards college courses as in, multimedia design, or other IT courses available at colleges.

Thanks again!

I’ve done Web design before. Here is what would be useful:

HTML
CSS
JavaScript would be a plus.
Dreamweaver
Photoshop
Fireworks
Flash & ActionScript

W3 Schools ( http://www.w3schools.com ) offers FREE tutorials on major web languages. Adobe also has tutorials for their software.

specify exactly what you do… (freelance, webdesign, print design, packaging, etc)
who are you employed with?
do you own your own business?
what education have you recieved?
do you have an online portfolio? if yes can u provide a link?
what are your likes and dislikes about the field?
how long have you been in the field?

Freelance, web design, print design, not packaging. I make websites and Ads mostly with some Photoshop graphics and layouts. I am employed (co-CEO of) Ecio Studios, own my own business, I’m in high school, I have a few online portfolio’s ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/37868328@N08/ ), I love this job, I’ve been in this field for about a year now.

Happy Xmas Eve,

-Billy

Can I do just as good with a certificate as i can a degree in website design? How can I become a very successfull freelancer in website design? What are an excellent site that are 100% to find freelance website design work?

It all depends on your business, for instance my specialty is funeral ceremonial.
Working at a funeral home part-time as a greeter until I graduate high school and go to mortuary science.

Anyhow, you don’t want a funeral home’s website too dark or eerie, it has to be light, tranquil and have warm (not bright nor dark) colors. It has to be elegant yet simple.

So look at your business, analyze what you need to draw in people’s attention and use that as a guide, look for website designers for a fair price, they can help!