I’ve recently been trying to get some additional income by doing additional web development projects on the side. The first thing I’ve noticed is it’s tough to generate leads, especially when it’s not your full time job. I have learned that you basically just need to keep your eyes and ears open and to also stick to stuff you know and try to leverage what you already do well to your advantage. Being in the right place at the right time is usually the name of the game, especially when you’re getting started.
Secondly, I’ve learned its hard to close deals once you’ve generated a lead. A lot of people (mostly the non-web savy ones it seems) don’t appear to know what it takes to build a quality web site. Nor do they value what your talents are. In the end though, I think it maybe just has more to do with people wanting something for the least amount of money than anything else. The key will be to be fair and upfront with people and hopefully work out the details and build great applications!
One thing I’ve tried to not do is just drive leads away. I try hard to work with them on the feature set and the price. So far, nothing bad has happened. Things just don’t move quickly.