Guide to owning and running a coding shop

[Erwin Smith]

if I may ask...

what is the best way to deliver your finished coding to a client? should you give them a screenshot + the coding for it in ( [code][/code] ) ?

That's what I did with my clients. Take a screenshot of the finished product and send the code (with the code coding) in PM. Because coding can appear on peoples signatures differently depending on browser and size resolution of the persons screen, the screenshot essentially ensures that it did work for you so it provides additional protection for you just in case something goes wrong.

[rocoboq]

if I may ask...

what is the best way to deliver your finished coding to a client? should you give them a screenshot + the coding for it in ( [code][/code] ) ?

That's what I did with my clients. Take a screenshot of the finished product and send the code (with the code coding) in PM. Because coding can appear on peoples signatures differently depending on browser and size resolution of the persons screen, the screenshot essentially ensures that it did work for you so it provides additional protection for you just in case something goes wrong.

That's a smart idea, I'd never considered that! What I normally do is send them the code in [code ][ /code] brackets and leave a little message via PM.

[lets.chill.kai]

mark.

[megapolis]

Marking!

[Vincent Van Goat]

marking

[Erwin Smith]

How to keep motivated and well organized with time management.
A heads up guide contributed by tai

One of the most important parts of having a shop, regardless of the content, is that time management is crucial. Time management is a make or break of most signature shops as it determines how many signatures can be done and how many can be accepted at once.


• A good way to identify how much time you have available for signature making is for you to count approximately how may hours of free time you have a week. At minimum, you should try to achieve one signature a week if you can, of any complexity. This way, you can keep a chain of signatures going at an easy schedule. The more time available, the more signatures you can make.

Slots

Afterwards, determining the amount of slots you should have should be relatively easy. The amount of time you have available can influence the amount of slots you have. An example for this is for every 5 hours free you have a week, one signature can be made and therefore, you can have one slot available. With that said, it can vary from person to person depending on ones work ethic and how much time you want to dedicate to a signature.

Once you have identified as much time you have available and the number of slots you find appropriate to match the time you have available.

How long should you spend on a signature?

Personally, when doing a commission, I try to not spend more than 5 hours on a signature. This way, it works to keep motivated in making a signature for another and can continue pumping out fabulous signature.

You need to make a time limit and cut off and stick with it. There is no point spending 12 hours on a signature and not feeling paid for your work. Be careful with your signature making as well.

[Erwin Smith]

How to attract customers to your shop
A heads up guide contributed by parabatai. and crystals.

The appearance of your shop is a make or break in regards to who you will attract to the shop. This can come down to a number of different aspects.

Coding

Your coding should be nice and simple, yet a small taste to show what you can code. This comes down to a number of different elements.

• Colour - Don't use Neon colours or bright colours. Using subdue colours and nice palettes which match together will work out so much.
  
• Layout - Don't make the coding overly complicated. Most coding can be seen as broken for another person even though it may fit for you. With that said, coding a simple layout will help with putting your signature shop out there!
  
• Images used - Using images can help with the overall atmosphere of signature creation. Shops without images tend to do not as well as those who do. Getting images which match your theme helps a ton as well.
• Posts - Using more than one post for your overall signature shop will help spread everything out and not be as cluttered. This will not only be easy on the eyes, but also help potential clients read and understand everything they need to.
Of course, experiment with what you have and find what works for you! If you need any opinion in regards, please feel free to ask at signing off!

My shop isn't attracting any clients! Am I doing something wrong?
Pre written by parabatai.

Don't expect your shop to be busy in the beginning. It can be a struggle to get customers and sometimes people simply are not interested. The amount of customers you get also really depends on demand and time of the year. Back when I owned an avatar shop, I got little to no clients when I started off. Don't let this bring you down! Chances are, you are simply not very well known. There will also be slow and fast points in your duration as a coder with your shop. In other words, there will be points where you will be busy with quite a few customers, and there will be points where you have a few customers and things go slow. It's normal. Don't feel bad if you have a lot of clients and you cannot handle them all, so you have to put a few on hold or close the shop temporarily to get all caught up. Do what will help you the most; if you client wants the signature made bad enough, they can wait a bit if need be.

[fit]

marked!

[shroom.]

mork

[Ffran]

Bookmarking