Web Business Frustration #1: Not Being Taken Seriously

Hi everyone!

Thanks for checking out my series of Business Frustrations  Hiring and Working With Web Designers, Programmers, Developers and the like.

A little about me, then I want to hear about you! :)
I have been designing and programming websites since 1997. I love merging both the creative, right-brain design process with the left-brain, linear programming process.

In college, my best friend and I taught computer programming to teenagers during summer school. From that point, I was hooked, both with teaching and with the web and its possibilities. I worked at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education to support them in creating online learning environments for elementary and middle schools. I absorbed the processes like a sponge!

After I graduated, I took a job at an advertising agency in Los Angeles, developing websites to support ad campaigns for General Motors, Union Bank of California, and a number of other clients. I then moved to an interactive agency in Hollywood, where I developed fun and flashy websites for the entertainment industry movie websites and dvd launch sites for Fox, Disney, Warner Brothers, MTV, and also for large corporate companies like Nike.

In 2005, I fulfilled my dream of owning and running my own business, as a freelance web designer and developer. I love being my own boss, being at the forefront of my business and of creating fun user experiences, but it isn't always easy. I have learned many, many lessons along the way, had many frustrations, done many things wrong.


Anyways, enough about me! I want to hear about you!! :)

What frustrations have you had being in business for yourself?
What frustrations have you had as a freelancer, or web desinger or developer, or whatever your trade is?
What have you learned from your frustrations?
What frustrations just seem to be ever-looming, that you might not be able to do away with?

Share it all here!

:)

Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoy this series!

Cynthia

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Cynthia
• Lou
• Web
• Design
• Programming
• Frustration
• Working
• with

[bmatherlyjr]

I've been there done that, I was the go to technician for a number of years before I got completely burned out. The easiest way to over come frustration number one, I suggest the "Listen, you came to me.." approach, it's abrasive but it gets the message across "that look if you didn't think I could help meet your needs you wouldn't have found me". That usually breaks the ice enough so that you can focus on the goal ahead.

[Confusciously]

Absolutely, sometimes it can take that ability to stand up for myself and my work that has people stop and take notice!

[nycgame]

lebrdotcom

I get that you look 20 thing too, when in fact I'm 30.

It's funny sometime and then after a white it gets annoying.

cause then people feel they can just treat you like a kid.

[sumguhsounds]

What do you code in?

[strivingstar2007]

You are now my new role model and you have a new subscriber. I like the way you come across as professional, but yet you kept it a down to earth tone. I wish you the best of luck in the future and I hope to follow you through your journey. =)

[TimexXaio03]

Thanks for the inspiration! :)

[agfagaevart]

It is relatively easy to learn web design and programming when you think about it. But, learning how to deal with people who have their own insecurities, because they can't take a female or a minority person seriously in business is much harder.

[lebrdotcom]

It's funny how in the beginning we want to look "mature" and as we get older, it's great to NOT look our age. LOL