2019 web design studio round up
I can’t believe it’s just a few days until 2020! The past two months have been probably the busiest months work-wise since just before I went on maternity leave. In that short time I’ve completed two intensive training courses, set up my design studio and worked on four websites for others, all of which are now live.
(Oh, and I’ve also finished my structural edits for my third book and continued to work two days a week in my content marketing job for a software company.)
It has been INTENSE. But, I have LOVED it. Absolutely loved it.
The hardest part has been setting up all the behind-the-scenes stuff like contracts etc, while working on client projects. I wanted to create a really efficient and user-friendly system for my clients as I know the prospect of building a new website can seem overwhelming, so I put together a welcome package that I could send to them before starting work, to help them get all their own content ready. It’s 13 pages long and took me forever, but I’ve had some great feedback on it, so hopefully it’s really helpful.
I’m lucky in that I have run a business before (and I’ve been freelance for nearly 10 years), so I know quite a bit about proposals and invoicing and client management, but things have moved on since I last did client work and it’s been interesting revisiting it all, and finding more efficient ways to work.
I’ve been using Bonsai to put together proposals, contracts and invoices, which I’ve found really user-friendly – it’s great as clients can sign contracts online and it also automates my invoicing which saves lots of time.
“I can honestly say I’m so happy that I’ve found this work – something that I really enjoy, that means I get to work with other authors (who are always great people, natch) and that pays the bills too!”
I really feel like I’ve lucked out. It’s been fascinating chatting to current and potential clients about their web design woes and I’m looking forward to perfecting my processes over 2020 so that I’m offering the absolute best possible design service to authors.
It’s been particularly eye-opening to talk to authors who actually don’t want to manage their own sites. I hadn’t considered offering an ongoing management/support service to authors after I finish building their sites but I do think there might be demand for this, so it’s something I’m considering formalising, as recurring revenue is obviously a Good Thing for freelancers (currently I offer adhoc website support services at an hourly rate).
As you might know, I wasn’t intending on starting my web design business properly until January, as I wanted to get all the background stuff up and running first. But I’m actually really glad that I got to work on four projects before I officially ‘launch’ because I now have a rather beautiful portfolio to show off, along with some lovely testimonials from my first clients.
So without waffling on too much longer – here are the sites I’ve built over the past two months… I would love to hear what you think of the designs.
They’re all quite different, and it’s been brilliant to have a diverse range of projects to work on!
garden4good.co.uk
This was my first official client project, and it was an absolute gift of a job with its stunning photography and a client who really took a chance on me as I had no portfolio to show her when she booked me! Garden4Good is the website for the amazing Quinton Old Rectory Garden – a privately owned garden that’s opened up to the public for various events throughout the year, including a summer poetry festival (check out their headline act next year!).
So, not strictly an author website, but still related to the literary world.
The Brief
Emma, the owner of the garden, was looking for a website that could be used to help them run their events and provide useful information to visitors, as well as promoting their unique Garden4Good ethos.
Most importantly, she wanted to be able to update it herself. We worked together over three weeks to create a site that represented the garden and the ethos behind it of using your garden ‘for good’. This is something that really resonated with me – we have an allotment and our garden is literally the reason we bought our house, so it was great to work on something I really believed in.
Here’s what Emma had to say about her finished site:
“Charlotte is an empathetic designer who is able to pinpoint her clients' preferences and personalties to produce a website that feels completely bespoke and appropriate. Also, Charlotte is very helpful on current website trends, what visitors will be looking for in terms of navigating the site etc and gently steering you towards best practice.
I feel very proud of the website! I love hearing the feedback (so far very positive). I'm looking forward to using it as a platform to engage with potential visitors, to spread our Garden4Good ethos and advertise my events.
Charlotte has exceeded my expectations at every turn. I think I was her first official client, but her systems and processes were such that I felt she could have been in this business for years; totally professional (and as an ex professional services person I really value that level of service and engagement). She's got great design flair and skills but moreover I think she seemed to intuitively understand me as a client, meaning she delivered the sort of site I would have designed myself if only I was half as creative and skilful!”
louisefein.com
Next up was designing the website for debut author Louise Fein, whose historical fiction novel People Like Us is being published in the US and the UK (and elsewhere!) in 2020 (sidenote: it sounds absolutely brilliant!).
The Brief
Louise wanted a smart, inviting website that showcased her novels and would be easy for her to update in the future. She also wanted to start a blog. It was brilliant to work with Louise, who had clear ideas about what she wanted from her site, but was also very open to my ideas on design. The challenge with designing a website for a debut is that there’s not a huge amount of content to work with yet, but I think we did a really good job of creating a beautiful and interesting site, with plenty to draw the eye.
Here’s what Louise said:
“Building a website would be an impossible task on my own. It was important to me that I had help from someone who understood the needs of an author.
It is definitely worth the investment, that you can have complete control over how you want your website to look, but without any of the headache of trying to build it yourself. Where you don't know what you want, Charlotte has the expertise to advise you, both as an author and as an experienced web-designer. I would 100% recommend Charlotte. All dealings were professional, well explained, with a clear timeline and what would be included. Nothing was too much trouble and all queries quickly answered.”
eleanoranstruther.com
My next project was very exciting - building a website for Desmond Elliot-longlisted author Eleanor Anstruther, whose novel is a fictionalised version of the true story of her ancestors. It was really fascinating to work on Eleanor’s website and learn more about the story behind her novel. There was also lots of great content to work with – from TV and radio appearances, to many reviews and events! Eleanor has had an incredible amount of press.
The Brief
Eleanor wanted a professional but welcoming website that highlighted her desire to be seen as a very active member of the writing community, and I think we achieved that alongside showing off all the amazing accolades she has had for her debut.
Here’s what Eleanor had to say about her completed site:
“My website speaks volumes for Charlotte's work and I can speak volumes at what a pleasure it is to work with her. If you're looking for a web designer, look no further than Charlotte. She comes highly recommended, complete not only with excellent tech and design skills, but perhaps more importantly, a high level of tech-phobia associated hand-holding. If she can talk me through it, she can handle anyone.”
oliverdarley.com
OK, so in the interest of full disclosure, Oliver is my other half! But he had a really knackered old Squarespace website and it was high time it had an upgrade, so his site was a great first project to get my teeth stuck into (I actually updated his in the evenings in front of the TV while I was doing my design course!). He had some amazing photos (taken by my very talented pro-photographer sister Sophie) which really brought the site to life. I love the bold font he let me use too!
My own author website!
Of course, after finishing my Squarespace design course I also redesigned my own author website, and you can see that here. It’s got a completely different look and feel from this website – I was trying to marry my two very different covers together, and create something really contemporary and eye-catching. I would never have thought the bright cherry red was ‘me’, but I actually really love it.
Plans for 2020!
I’m so excited to be booked up already for client websites until March. I’m also going to be working on the websites for not one but two Sunday Times Bestselling authors!
I’m also really chuffed about just how varied all the projects I have coming up are – it’s wonderful to be able to work across different genres and with different material.
In January I’m going to launch my free ebook, The Debut Author’s Survival Guide. It’s a whopping 11,000 words long, and it’s basically everything I wished I knew when I first got my publishing deal. I’ve written it alongside my good friend and fellow author Caroline Hulse, and I hope it will be of interest to all debut authors (and maybe some already published authors too!?). Look out for it – I’ll be shouting my head off about it when it goes live!
I’d also really like to find a way to give back through my business – whether that’s offering a pro bono website design to a writer from an under-represented background or perhaps donating a portion of my earnings from each site design to a charity that supports writers. I’m open to ideas on this, so please do shout if this is something you think you could advise me on!
Finally, I need to sort out my email marketing strategy. I’ve been steadily building my mailing list but haven’t had time to dedicate to sorting it out properly. I’d like to do a really good email marketing course actually, but have yet to find one that offers exactly what I need… the search is on.
And talking about online courses… I know they’re very en vogue at the moment but I’m completely addicted! I keep signing up to them and then not having enough time to actually finish them. It’s a problem! But I’m learning loads, and by the end of next year I’d really like to launch my own online course, teaching authors on limited budgets how to build their own beautiful Squarespace websites. Do let me know if this is something you’d be interested in!
Oh and one last thing that’s on the agenda for 2020… starting to write my fourth novel. EEEK.
Phew, this is an epic blog post…
