I'm really excited.  It looks like I'm branching out and starting my own business!    I'm going into web design and development as well as print advertising.    I've already got one client lined up that wants me to work on two of his websites.  I had already worked with him before on his city council website and this monday when I met with him to discuss these two websites he thanked me for the website because, as he said, "It helped me win the election."  (I hadn't been to his website since he won the election and it looks like he has made some changes to it.  The most noticable of which is the fact that he now only has one page instead of the 6-10 that I had created for him.  That's one thing I am going to have to learn to get used to...the fact that once I give up the website they will be fidgeting around with the settings, the text and what not  )  So after the meeting he kept hounding me on how much I was going to charge him for the websites.  I had no idea.  I kept telling him that I needed to talk to my business consultant (whom he knew and had worked with before).  I was having trouble scheduling some time but I finally found her and we decided to meet after work. 

So yesterday I met up with her.  She's an old collegue of mine who has now turned into my business consultant.  She blew my mind on everything that she taught me.  I came in pretty much blindfolded.    I had no idea that there were so many possibilities for selling packages of my work.  Since I'm going to be working for city council members she suggested I give them a little discount since most of the time they are operating on what their supporters donate to them.  Some of them are interested in spanish and english websites so that's a niche I can fit myself into.    We talked about my cash flow.  At first a lot of it is going to be going out since I have to buy a decent laptop and cool software that will help make this job a lot easier.    Next we discussed the packages I could sell.    We talked about a five page deal and whether or not it was going to be high tech or low tech.  Depending on their choice of difficulty then that's how the price will be determined.  She said she was going to help me sketch out a contract and I have to get working on my package details and the paperwork that I have to give the potential client so they can work on the wording that they want in the website.  I am most excited about having the opportunity to do the designing.    I love the process of wracking my brain to come up with an idea   and then the feeling of satisfaction that I get when I finish the product.    I also have to look into getting a business license both for the state and the city that I live in.  I still have to learn a lot about webhosting, parking a website, whether or not I want a yearly hosting plan or a monthly one...aaaaagh!    There's a lot for me to do.  I don't even have a credit card yet and I know I'm going to need one in order to pay for all this stuff online.  Nonetheless, I AM VERY EXCITED!