Entrepreneurs Can Compete with Big Web Designers

Adobe Master Collection 4, Lynda.com, Camtasia Give Earning Power

Dec 2, 2008

Independent or freelance web designers, illustrators or web masters can make real money with powerful software and deep training. Read how.

It isn’t easy for small shop web design companies to compete with big budget web development companies. Professional quality web sites typical have come from expansive design departments with robust staff. Tons of expensive design software is a must for audio, video, and multimedia capability. An art department – who can afford an art department?

Small developers, garage-based web design businesses, start-up entrepreneurs can jump in with the big guys now and present a portfolio that hangs in with the best. Adobe brand software, often producing programs that have no peers, means a better bottom-line to big business and the release of Adobe’s Master Collection CS4 puts that versatile, multimedia capability square in the hands of anyone determined to succeed.

There’s a price tag, of course – Adobe Master Collection CS4 is a robust software suite that’s practically a turn-key operation putting the power of podcasts, videos, instructional videos,

What’s Inside Adobe Master Collection CS4

The price point comes in at about $1800, a number that would make many small business owners think at least twice. But with the capabilities of this set, a skilled designer could, logically, recover the cost with one or two freelance jobs. And in marketing herself for those jobs, the designer could sell any features and functions that her larger competitors can produce.

Dan Pelland, web developer/entrepreneur in Chicago, said in conversation with Suite101, “For a small development operation, whether entrepreneurial or pro, having the ability to create exceptional content is a huge advantage. Anyone can go out now and download a free content management system like Joomla or Drupal and add some impressive features fairly simply – but someone with access to the Adobe tools can stand out in that crowd with creativity, originality, functionality.”

The new Master Collection has some interface changes, making it more user friendly, according to reviewers and users. The pen tool is easier to use, always a bugaboo among users of Illustrator. Dreamweaver is cleaner and more organized, making the task of basic design easier. The workspace, now permitting the user to move pallets outside the workspace, makes clutter a thing of the past.

There are fascinating new functions to make a project unique. For instance, a designer can take a particular letter or number character apart and change the shape with extreme precision. Lines can be customized into dotted lines. Then, the designer can break the dots down to shapes and make each dot in the line a different color, shape, or size.

For himself, Pelland has combined high caliber training from teaching sites like Lynda dot com and Totaltraining.com,with software from Adobe and Camtasia and parlayed that into a lucrative freelance business, saying he values the depth of knowledge and robust capabilities he has now.

Pros, freelancers and serious amateurs can vouch for the fact that growing your business is realistic and reachable, an especially important fact in times when augmenting current income or replacing lost income means family survival or a successful retirement. A personal investment in serious training and serious software can really shine artistic jewels, giving the entrepreneur a leg up against competition.

The copyright of the article Entrepreneurs Can Compete with Big Web Designers in Website Design is owned by Maryan Pelland. Permission to republish Entrepreneurs Can Compete with Big Web Designers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.