[DirectPixel]

Originally Posted by unenergizer

Okay, so I have decided to jump into this scene and cut my own piece of the pie. I have made about $100 in the past week. I am wondering if you (coders/designers) make a pretty good amount of money for your services? I am not asking how much you make, but out of all the work you do, is it worth it? Are you able to live off your profits? I am wondering these questions because I may change my major in college from computer network administrator to a type of design/webdevelopment major.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks everyone,
Andrew B.

If you're going to design for vBulletin, it's definitely going to be an uphill battle. For vBulletin administrators, they can either choose from a wide variety of sites that sell pre-made skins for $20-$30 a pop, or they can choose from dozens upon dozens of designers, all willing to get the job done for less and less.

Good clients don't come often. Many times, your projects will be spent working on a skin here or some modifications there, for a few hundred or a few thousand dollars on the side. If you're paying $1000 a month for rent, $400 for your car, and $600 on food, that leaves you on a very tight budget. Among all the clients you get, try to identify ones that would pay off to be in long-term relationships with.

On the same note, try not to limit yourself to just vBulletin or just design. Selling a design to somebody for $800 or $1000 is nowhere near as sustaining as providing complete server and forum maintenance packages for a handful of sites.

I guess this really isn't related to designing or vBulletin, but personally, I'd recommend that you diversify. Try to get some passive income thru other means, to compensate for those slow times between clients. If you've got a good website idea that will earn you revenue on the side, definitely pursue it.

And finally, don't forget to invest your earnings. My income goes into a pooled-stock portfolio some friends and I have set up. Sure, there's natural risks from investing your money in stocks, but we play the markets pretty well.