Despite the attractive multimillion-dollar turnover of the computer gaming market, it is oh so difficult to enter it. This will require not only solid start-up capital and more than one year of work, but also the “creative brains” of computer geniuses, which is much more important for success.
The gaming industry has been one of the most dynamically developing for several years now. The explanation for this is quite simple - computers and game consoles are becoming cheaper, but people’s desire to have fun does not disappear. Moreover, no economic crisis can prevent this. It has long been noticed: the worse the state of the economy, the more money people spend on inexpensive entertainment, trying to somehow brighten up their gloomy everyday life.
The time of single romantics in this industry has long passed: the development of computer games has become a very serious business, where entire teams of specialists work on each new project. Now it is no longer possible to say that in Russia developers cannot earn anything from the production of computer games, and mostly work “for the West.” A good project, when sold in Russia, today brings in at least $200-300 thousand per game. And often from sales in the CIS you can actually get the same amount of money as from the rest of the world. For example, in Russia, more than 500 thousand legal copies of our “Truckers” were sold, which brought in $750 thousand at a wholesale price of $1.5.
The cost of printing one laser disc is 30 cents. And together with the box and high-quality printing, it turns out to be about 50 cents. You can earn $1 from the sale of one disc. The wholesale price for large gift boxes with games is about $24 each. Despite the fact that they are sold an order of magnitude smaller, the profit here is several times higher.
According to market participants, the normal rate of profit in this industry is at least 100%. In Russia, this level is still somewhat lower - all due to the same piracy and limited market. But the difference is compensated by the successful sales of “hits” in the West, ensuring the same 100%.
As for the distribution of profits between the developer and publisher, with a correctly drawn up contract, the earnings of the publisher and developer are comparable. But in Russia, it is often the developer who earns even more, because the publisher finances the development one hundred percent. The developer does not risk anything, receiving a certain percentage of sales after the product begins to pay off. The average royalty in Russia is 20-50%, in the West it is less - about 20%, but if the developer came to the publisher with a ready-made product, taking on the financing of the project, then in exceptional cases the royalty can reach 80%.
The cost of developing one game directly depends on its complexity. On average, a high-quality project costs about $500 thousand. In the West, the price of a project can reach up to $4-5 million.
In the States, up to 80% of development costs come from paying expensive specialists, but in our country these costs amount to up to 60%. The rest comes from utility bills, rent, taxes and other overhead costs. Our programmer's salary is also much less - from $500 to $1000. Hence the high cost of development: on average, a team of 15-20 specialists works on one large-scale project, plus additional people are involved at various stages.
The problem of personnel in the computer gaming industry is one of the most pressing problems. According to the developers, only “brains” can ensure the quality of the game; it is impossible to work here without a creative approach. And there are no more than a hundred such specialists in Russia, with a total employment in the industry of 1.5 thousand people. The matter is further complicated by the fact that universities do not train such specialists, and usually
Developers have to cultivate talented programmers and 3D artists themselves over the course of several years.
Another difficulty in this business is the changing fashion that computer toys are also subject to. It takes from a year to two to develop one project, and during this time demand may change. Therefore, sometimes it is easier for developers to close a project than to continue spending money on it.
Outsourcing is another type of quite successful business for Russian developers, in which our specialists develop individual parts of the game or complete the entire project under an agreement with a Western game manufacturer. The benefits of such cooperation are obvious to both parties - the Western developer saves money significantly, and Russian developers get work.
For those wishing to enter the gaming computer business, there are now only two areas available: distribution or sale of finished games and development.
As for publishing, it’s not easy to get into this direction, even with huge start-up capital. The Russian market is divided between four or five well-known publishers, and none of the developers would dare to entrust their product to an unknown newcomer.
The most profitable thing is to simultaneously engage in development, publishing and distribution, that is, control the entire technological process, making a profit at each stage, and not giving it to a third-party company. But only very large companies that have enough resources for everything can afford this.
The path to becoming a developer is much simpler and cheaper. The initial costs will be about $10 thousand. The technology is simple: several friends team up, buy a computer, specialized programs (for example, usually all programming is done in C++; for the artistic part, 3D Max or Maya, which cost about $5 thousand, are suitable). and work on creating a demo version, then they go to the publisher with it, and if the publisher is interested in the project, then he usually takes on all the financing himself. The main condition for success is that the new project be worthwhile.
Every year, from 3 thousand to 5 thousand computer games are created in the world, of which only a few hundred become commercially successful and appear on store shelves. The entire box office, as in the film business, is made by the top 10. It’s clear why all developers and publishers strive to make a hit, but not everyone succeeds.
The main thing when developing a game is to first competently plan the entire process, and then organize it just as competently. There is a certain technological sequence of operations. First of all, the manager (producer) does a marketing analysis of the market, determining which products will be in demand in a year and a half - after the game is released. After coming up with a new idea for a game, the creation of a so-called “concept document” begins, which includes a detailed description of the future product, an analysis of the market situation - that is, a kind of business plan. The next stage is called “pre-production”, and it ends with the creation of a “design document”. Leaders of development areas take part in it - the chief designer, concept artists, they describe the smallest tasks of the game and levels, the amount of animation, characters, etc., right down to the tree in the background. Pre-production lasts 3-4 months, during which a detailed work plan is created for the entire development period. It is the quality of pre-production that largely determines the success of the game in the future. Then the actual “production” begins. The whole team is already involved in it: programmers, designers, artists, animators. This is the longest stage, at the end of which an alpha version of the game is created, usually with many errors, which are corrected within a couple of months, during which a beta version appears. It fixes the last bugs (sometimes together with the publishers), and only then does the finished product appear.
There are also not many serious developers in the country, about 10-12, compared to the States, where there are several thousand of them. The most famous are Akella, Nival, Softlab-Nsk, Nikita, K-D Lab and 1C.
It is impossible to accurately determine the volume of the computer games market, since no marketing research has been conducted. All participants, despite different estimates, name approximately the same order of magnitude – tens of millions of dollars annually.
According to Dmitry Arkhipov from Akella, the turnover of the domestic legal market reaches $100 million annually.
Over the past three or four years, the volume of the Russian gaming computer market has been steadily increasing - according to various estimates, by about 20-25% per year. Now sales of the most popular hit can reach 500 thousand copies through legal channels and up to 1 million through illegal (pirated) channels.
How much can you earn?
Based on materials from the magazine Your Business
This article will talk about making money by creating games. In short, this is a job for those who are familiar with computers and are ready to discover something new for themselves. The method really works, but it requires labor and time. If you are sure that you are ready to develop and learn, then you can get started.
As you know, the mobile application market is growing and growing. Anyone who knows a little about computers can make money by creating games. We are talking about developing simple mobile applications. It is not necessary to create some complex projects at the beginning of your career. Everyone starts with something small and gradually develops.
As a rule, a simple application can earn much more than complex projects with 3D graphics.
Currently, regular audio applications are gaining popularity. The best example of this is the most ordinary buttons, when pressed, a sound is produced. An experienced developer creates such mobile applications in 15 minutes.
It must also be said that to create such a creation it is not necessary to know programming languages. There are many game builders that can help you achieve the results you want.
You are probably wondering, how much can you earn making games? It all depends on you. Of course, you can’t do it without costs. To enter the GooglePlay mobile application market, you need to pay $25. Compared to the AppStore, this is small.
For example, if you buy a developer license on GooglePlay, you will have it forever, but in the AppStore you need to pay 110 euros per year. Of course, this is not so much (especially if your application will generate good income), but it is still more expensive than on GooglePlay.
Anyone who has a very small budget can first work on GooglePlay, save money, and then buy a license in the AppStore. Then it will be possible to publish the same application on two markets, which will double the amount of earnings.
By the way, you can also work in the WindowsPhone market. There, the developer license is provided for free, but the audience is significantly smaller than that of the two previous competitors.
How earnings are formed
And now the question will be raised about how to make money on apps? Making your applications paid (especially if you are a beginner and the development itself is simple and primitive) is not an option. Because no one will buy from you this way. As a result, you will simply waste time.
The theory behind making big money is adding ads to your app. For example, you can add advertisements from . They provide a great opportunity for developers to make money from their apps through advertising. Clicking on it in games pays from $0.01 to $3. It all depends on the type of advertising being placed and the topic.
The advantage of this method of earning money is that you switch to a completely passive income format! That is, you will put your applications on the store and simply receive profit from advertising. The more people download, the higher your monthly earnings will be.
For example, let’s say you created 10 simple applications in a month. Let’s say each one will bring in 0.5-1 dollar per day. If you do the math, you can receive from $150 to $300 per month. This is very good money. It doesn’t matter at all whether you work or not, this is your guaranteed income. You can only increase it by developing new, more interesting applications.
There are many programs for creating mobile applications, but here are only two of the most popular ones.
— A modern 2D game designer. Allows you to create games for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and IOS. The main advantage here is that even a person who does not have any special programming skills can handle it. Such a program will be an excellent tool for beginning game developers. The list below shows the main features of this tool:
System requirements:
The installation process is extremely simple:
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GameMaker— Visual environment for creating two-dimensional games. It has flexible settings that allow you to bring your unique ideas to life, even without any programming skills. Thanks to its clear interface, GameMaker will be an excellent tool for beginning developers. Functionality of the program in question:
System requirements:
Installation:
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Conclusions about the work
You can learn how to create games using these constructors in a couple of weeks. If you practice for several months, the output will be very worthy games that can claim to be downloaded. When starting your career, don’t think about income. Take care to do quality work. When you start putting your soul into this business, the money will come to you.
If you develop and try to create something interesting, eventually game development will easily turn into your main activity. Even if there are problems, don't stop. Go towards your goal and improve.
At the same time, it is necessary to understand that the game is different: a lot of money revolves around the most popular signs, and less money revolves around the not so hot ones. It’s also worth considering that there will always be many hunters for a good jackpot, because no one has yet canceled competition.
What games are most in demand among the audience? For the answer, you can look to the streaming service Twitch, which was recently generously valued and purchased by Amazon for $1 billion. They say that Google was also very interested in the site, seeing in it the killer of its YouTube. Did you feel the importance?
Twitch is a multi-platform service for streaming gaming videos or covering eSports competitions.
Any user of the site can create an account and begin to demonstrate their gaming skills, and tournament organizers can extensively cover ongoing events. In truth, the service also shows other content, but the advantage remains with games.
So who is at the top of Twitch? These are League of Legends (LoL), Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Overwatch and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. All of the above are multiplayer games with various competitive modes inside.
Progaming
Professional gamers are at the top of the gaming world. They have incredible skills, know the subtle subtleties of the gameplay, and have a wealth of experience. Like any other professional activity, progaming can sell well. Although there are some nuances. For example, a progamer’s income level can be influenced by his personal popularity with the audience (good manners, responsiveness to the community) and place of residence. I would like to focus on the latter, because society’s understanding, perception and appreciation of professional gaming varies greatly in different parts of the globe. Thus, in Korea and China, progaming has become more popular than many classical sports: football, basketball and others. In the USA and Europe, players are not carried on their arms, but they also feel good.
What does a progamer's income consist of? First of all, from the salary that he is entitled to under the concluded employment agreement. Yes, players have contracts with esports organizations, which spell out responsibilities and remuneration. According to Roman Dvoryankin, general manager of the Russian organization Virtus.pro, the average salary of a professional gamer in his project is $7,000 per month. At the same time, players in Dota 2 and CS:GO earn the most.
The salary cap of a cyberathlete depends on the success of his team at various championships. Thus, the highest paid player, a German under the pseudonym KuroKy, earned more than two million dollars for winning the Dota 2 tournament - The International 2017.
For comments on the state of affairs in professional gaming, I turned to Alexander @EmpireStrangeR Solomonov - head of Team Empire, one of the oldest e-sports organizations in Eastern Europe. I was sincerely pleased with the openness and initiative with which the head of the company answered several of Lifehacker’s questions. One feels that the person is truly obsessed with the eSports movement.
Alexander Solomonov
Managing Director of Team Empire
- Team Empire has long been famous in eSports circles for its ability to find young talents. How is the tracking and selection of promising young people capable of becoming eSports players carried out? I think the answer to this question is very interesting for novice gamers who would like to become part of your team.
- Indeed, this is one of the questions we are often asked. We receive dozens of letters with requests to join our team, unfortunately, not everyone is able to respond. Here are some tips for those who want to be noticed by strong teams, using the Dota 2 discipline as an example.
- If you are a player who does not yet have experience playing for professional teams, the chance that you will be immediately accepted into Team Empire is extremely small. There are many such players, and choosing the right ones is very difficult and risky. It is easier for players to start their journey with weaker teams and play in tournaments as much as possible, in those tournaments that your team will be able to qualify for. You need to try to show and prove yourself.
- Simple games in “pubs” and online leagues have also not been canceled. Professional players are one of the important sources of information. They may notice you themselves and recommend you to their management.
Potentially strong players come to our attention without knowing it, and at the right moment we contact them ourselves. Basically, a player is selected directly based on his playing skills, but if the candidate has problems traveling abroad, such a player will not suit us. Conclusion: get a foreign passport, it will be your advantage.
- What are the main responsibilities imposed on a professional player under his contract? What bonuses and monetary rewards can he expect?
- Many people think that being a professional eSports player is easy. They are mistaken. This is hard work with an irregular schedule. Of course, we try to schedule matches and training so that the players have enough days off and free time, but sometimes we have to play on weekends and late in the evening if tournaments require it.
Playing your favorite game is only one side of the coin. Players have many other contractual obligations, including:
- maintaining your own social networks;
- game streams;
- interviews, press conferences, participation in promotions from sponsors and partners;
- communication with fans and much more.
Monetary remuneration is also specified in the contract. Salaries for professional players vary depending on the eSports game, the level of the teams, and other factors. Currently, on average, professional players can earn several thousand dollars a month. Don't forget about prize money from tournaments, which make up the majority of players' earnings.
- It seems that today eSports has become less dependent on sponsorship due to fans and their contributions to tournament prize funds. But is it possible for an individual player, a team or an entire organization to survive without the support of the same computer hardware manufacturers?
At this stage of development of e-sports in Russia, existence without sponsors is impossible. In this regard, Team Empire is very grateful to our reliable partners - Logitech G, Seagate, Pinnacle and Kingiun - for the opportunity to play and win.
- Surely the old-timers of Team Empire remember those times when professional gaming was based almost entirely on enthusiasm. Things are much better now. What does the future hold for international esports?
Those were interesting times, full of new acquaintances, projects, tournaments and games! Esports is developing along with the IT sector. In the USA, eSports is very developed - the game League of Legends is recognized as a sport there. In Europe, eSports are well developed in certain countries, especially Germany and Sweden. Chinese players are considered one of the strongest in the world in the Dota 2 discipline, and Korean players are considered to be among the strongest in Starcraft II.
Unfortunately, Russia is still lagging behind in eSports development, but is catching up with the world every day. When I talk about the gap, I don't mean the level of professional teams - we have strong teams and talented players. We are talking about the low involvement of sponsoring companies in the field of e-sports.
E-sports is a huge active youth audience of computer game lovers. Marketers in other countries have already realized the attractiveness of e-sports for promoting their companies' products and services and have learned to use this area correctly. Our companies still have this stage ahead of them, and many unexpectedly pleasant discoveries await them.
I would like to mention separately the second, and in some cases the main source of income for a progamer - prize money from tournaments.
Everything is “simple”: you win the competition, get your million dollars and divide the money among the team members.
A million dollars for toys? Yeah! And this is far from the limit.
In 2011, the Ukrainian Dota 2 team Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) was one of the first to receive such a reward for winning The International, the largest annual cyber competition held under the auspices of the well-known company Valve. Na`Vi can easily be called one of the most successful esport organizations in Eastern Europe. “Born to Win” (from the Latin Natus Vincere) has victories and prizes in many international tournaments, including a couple more places in The International prizes. The organization also has rosters in other esports disciplines, but they are overshadowed by the successes of the main fighters.
But let’s return to The International so that you can fully experience the scale of the event. The tournament is held in one single discipline - Dota 2. All players of the main event receive a monetary reward for participation in the tournament in proportion to their merits. The foundation of the prize fund is laid by Valve from its own pocket, and it also takes upon itself the organization of qualifying competitions, the flight of players, their food and accommodation at the tournament site, and so on. Three to four months before the main event, Valve offers Dota 2 fans to buy a “Battle Pass” for The International.
A “Battle Pass” is a set of in-game content dedicated to a specific tournament. Purchasing a pass provides access to new game modes and unique bonuses.
The Battle Pass costs about $10, and part of its cost is donated to the tournament fund. Thus, fans of the game thank the progamers for their performance from their own pockets. In 2017, The International's total prize pool was more than $23 million. The winning team, Team Liquid, received 10 million of this amount.
Winners of The International 2017. Source: twitter.com/DOTA2 But not only progamers are fed up with The International. There are many less profitable tournaments throughout the year, but you can also make very good money from them. It’s gratifying that among the most stable, globally recognizable and interesting leagues are ours, for example the Starladder and Wargaming.net League series. Representatives of the latter do a lot for the development of e-sports, holding spectacular events in Moscow, Kyiv, Minsk, Warsaw, attracting players from all over the world. I would like to thank the WGL team represented by Ivan Zhivitsa and Alexey Kornyshev for their work, as well as for their answers to Lifehacker’s questions.
Alexey Kornyshev
Project Manager for eSports at Wargaming
- Wargaming supports its own e-sports league. Tell us about it: geography, number of participants, prize fund, prospects?
- Wargaming.net league is an international e-sports league for Wargaming games, founded in 2013 and uniting professional players and fans of the company’s online projects from all over the world into a single global community. At the moment, the league takes place in five regions: Russia and the CIS, Europe, North America, Asia, China (partner league). The prize fund for the 2014–2015 season was $2.5 million. We have been successfully working for two years, and we plan to continue to delight eSports fans, paying special attention to beginner players.
- Surely you communicate closely with the players. Who are these people trying to make money from games?
- The average age of an eSports player in World of Tanks is around 23–25 years old. These are mostly men with secondary and higher education. Of course, we have esports players who make money by playing in the league. For example, the Na`Vi team, everyone except the manager, chose WGL as their main job. Esports athletes also have children and families.
- What is the future of eSports according to Wargaming? Will it eclipse football in 20 years?
- E-sports is developing very quickly. Some disciplines already rival classical sports in terms of the number of spectators. According to Superdata analysts, the eSports audience is approaching 135 million people, which, you see, is impressive. This is confirmed by the interest from advertisers and sponsors, who have invested about $111 million in esports in North America, according to the same Superdata. This is a natural and inexorable process, the final point of which is too early to talk about. But the future for esports is promising.
But being the best of the best or being in the appropriate shape on a regular basis is “slightly” difficult. Therefore, many progamers try themselves in other areas, such as commenting.
Commenting and analytics
Game broadcasts are supported not only by retired professional players, but also by “rootless goons” who have never smelled the gunpowder of serious battles. It all depends on the ability to speak, charisma, understanding of the logic of the game and the desire to be popular. As a rule, the best commentators and analysts (who analyze upcoming games and their results) are assigned to a league or esports organization, for which they are paid a salary. They often act as “non-main” commentators at friendly tournaments. For example, Russian-speaking commentators accompany Chinese or American competitions, and vice versa.
Some commentators and analysts have good gaming skills and are not shy to show this during a live broadcast, that is, they are engaged in streaming.
Streaming
Have you forgotten about Twitch yet? This is where ordinary users, professional gamers, commentators and anyone else show their game. And here there are three ways to monetize your work.
The first is Twitch interest for monthly paid user subscriptions to your channel in exchange for some bonuses. Of course, the more such viewers, the greater the reward amount. But Twitch's royalties can seem laughable compared to the "ancillary" way of income - viewer donations. Yes, during the broadcast, many streamers communicate with their audience using a “question-answer” scheme, become closer to them, give them the opportunity to write messages on air for general viewing, for which they receive monetary gratitude. Thus, one of the most popular English-language streamers constantly shows the honor board of his viewers. Take a look at the numbers below, they are impressive. Moreover, the report did not include small donors, of which there may be hundreds and thousands.
The top ten donors alone donated over $40,000 A streamer named Wagamama received a one-time donation of $4,000 in 2015.
Of course, this is an out-of-the-ordinary example, but the fact remains: among fans of computer games there are wealthy people who are ready to sponsor enthusiasts.
As for Russian-speaking streamers, then, of course, their income is much more modest. Although here, too, donations amounted to more than $1,000 or so. For some streamers, broadcasting games is their main income, while for others it is a way to build up their authority with the opportunity to move under the wing of a professional organization, for others it is an auxiliary income.
In population-rich Asia, streamers can earn $800,000 a year working 90 hours a week. For example, such a salary is due to a former LoL player. But it is important to understand that there are other scales due to the Internet and television. You are not mistaken, in China and South Korea there are specialized TV channels that show exclusively computer games to millions of eyes 24 hours a day.
Thirdly, streamers place small banners with advertising, for which they receive a negotiated fee.
Creating in-game content
Some people spend all their money on clothes in the real world, and others in the virtual one. This helps you stand out from other players or just freshen up the experience a little. There is always demand, it remains to be satisfied. The main cream of the crop here is the game developers themselves, but Valve also allows its community to earn extra money.
Do you have 3D modeling skills? You can try your hand at the Steam Workshop.
If your work is found to be of high quality, other players will be able to purchase it, for which you will receive a percentage of each purchase.
Thus, at the beginning of 2015, Valve reported that $57 million had already flowed into the pockets of one and a half thousand third-party developers. It is easy to calculate that on average this is $38,000 for each of them.
Selling characters and rare items
Where there is money, there is a shadow market. Often, newcomers do not want to flounder among similar weak characters, but they want to immediately rush into battle with a pumped-up hero. In this case, you can easily find pages on the Internet selling high-level characters. And the more time it takes to upgrade it, the more it will cost. The price tag generally starts from 7 dollars and can exceed a hundred. Some streamers combine business with pleasure: they broadcast games, simultaneously pumping up new characters for their subsequent sale. Double profit!
Now about swords, armor and horses. The Internet is full of trading platforms where players can exchange virtual items or sell them to each other. Their cost is almost always low, but there are exceptions.
For fun, answer, how much are you willing to pay for a unique item in a computer game?
Most likely, your figure is nowhere near the generosity of a Dota 2 fan who shelled out $38,000 for the virtual collectible value.
The same pink courier. He transports items from the store to the player. Photo: ex.ua Moreover, the purchase does not give the owner any advantages over other players, this is just an extremely rare courier model, the uniqueness of which 99.9% of all gamers do not know. The seller got the courier for symbolic pennies, however, multiplied by chance. Anything can happen.
Tote
It may seem strange to some to equate eSports with sports in the usual sense, but not to bookmakers whose online offices accept bets on a wide variety of virtual competitive events. As in the “adult” betting, there are a lot of losers and a thin layer of those who have a regular income. It’s trite: whoever doesn’t play doesn’t win!
By the way, the esports world has had its own noisy scandals related to fraudulent results. Individual players or entire teams lost matches for one reason or another. Cheating became public knowledge, and the participation of those guilty in the most worthy tournaments was prohibited.
Moviemaking
Do you have video editing skills? Then why not try your hand at creating videos on the theme of computer games? Such channels are popular on YouTube, which pays royalties based on the number of views.
And you don’t need any video cutting at all. You just need to press the keys and post your game walkthroughs online to earn some good money. The clearest example of this is gamer PewDiePie, whose YouTube channel boasts 57 million subscribers. According to 2016 data, the Swede earned $15 million in 12 months. Of course, these are not only video hosting royalties, but also built-in advertising.
Conclusion
This is not the first year I have been watching eSports. The movement is growing. Maybe not at the same pace as in the West and East, but the trend is clear: unorganized youthful enthusiasm has been replaced by an adult structure with good budgets. This is visible to the naked eye, even to an outside observer like me. The people involved are of the same opinion.
I hope that among the readers of this article there will be people who know the eSports industry from the inside. We look forward to their comments with their vision of the current state of affairs and the future of professional gaming.
Beginners and experienced webmasters who have already mastered all the basics of website building are eager to get financial returns from their skills and abilities. Despite the fact that many free designers have appeared on the Internet, where even a primary school student can make his own web page, professional website development with a unique design still remains a sought-after service. Services for creating websites using templates and builders are no less popular. That is why, if you already have at least basic knowledge in this area, you can start making money from your hobby today.
Is it really possible to make money by creating websites? Today, when the number of global network users numbers several billion people, such a question makes virtually no sense. After all, the unequivocal answer is “yes.” The most important question that should really concern you is where to find customers.
How to make money creating websites for a beginner
The demand for competent web developers is very high, and their work is well paid. But how to make money creating websites if you have virtually no experience behind you? It's best to start with freelancing. There are many offers on the Internet to make money by developing websites. Most likely, no one will promise you mountains of gold at first, but the main task for a beginner is to develop a portfolio.
Let's look at the main options for making money by creating websites:
Examples of projects for creating websites on the Fl.ru freelance exchange
- Creation of multi-page websites or business card websites. You will find applications for this kind of work on popular freelance exchanges, including allfreelancer.su and freelance.ru.
- Another option is to create and promote a website for its further sale. Web developers who have a good command of programming languages and are familiar with SEO optimization and SMM promotion can really earn extra money. However, it is also recommended for beginners to carry out such projects on their own: they will greatly improve their skills and will be able to show off their experience at interviews. An important point: before creating and promoting a website, do a little research on what areas are now most in demand, for example, an online fishing tackle store or a website dedicated to healthy nutrition.
- Creation and configuration of websites using templates and constructors. Often, customers need to set up WordPress, Joomla, Adobe Muse, DLE, UMI templates, plugins, or install Yandex.Metrica counters, as well as help with sites created in various builders (for example, Wix.com or Google Sites). The pay here is not high, but the work is not dusty. You will probably find similar orders on the microservices exchange work-zilla.com.
- For web developers with at least some work experience and certain business abilities, there is the opportunity to create their own web workshop specializing in website development. To organize a workshop, it is not at all necessary to have a premises. You can find responsible and professional employees working remotely.
- Website copying is a popular service among those customers who do not want to spend extra money and time on developing an individual web design. Services for creating analogues of templates already existing on the Internet are estimated at 500-2000 rubles. Copying websites is in particular demand among those who created a web page in some website builder, but because of the high cost of the monthly subscription fee, decided to abandon such a hosting provider. Copy-pasting the same design is the cheapest and easiest way to move to another hosting, while maintaining the appearance of an already developed template.
Where to make money by creating websites?
To receive your first orders, use the following platforms:
How much can you earn by creating websites?
You can judge for yourself how much web developers earn from creating websites in 2017 by reading the corresponding vacancies on hh.ru, avito, advertisements on message boards and. On average, the prices are approximately the following:
- The cost of creating a turnkey landing page, with the development of a unique design, varies on freelance exchanges from 2,000 to 35,000 rubles.
- You can earn from 10,000 to 50,000 rubles by developing an online store. The final cost will depend on the site design and its functionality.
- They earn from 500 to 1000 rubles by completing orders for website copying, layout development, design elements, implementation of new functionality and website improvements.
- Small services for setting up web pages are priced at 150-500 rubles/hour.
- Promoted projects that can bring profit “here and now” are rated highest. The cost of a finished website depends on its “size” (TIC, PR, Alexa indicators), traffic and level of profitability. You can sell your finished website on the platforms telderi.ru, pr-cy.ru/sale, and on the forum maultalk.com. The price range ranges from 1,000 to 9,000,000 rubles. For example, a site with daily traffic of 500 unique visitors per day and advertising revenue of 1,000 rubles per month is estimated at 25,000-30,000 rubles.
You can estimate the cost of a website using specialized online services such as calculator cost.telderi.ru, mysitecost.ru and others.
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Now Internet users are interested in the question of how to make money by creating websites. The reason is that business is rapidly moving to virtual platforms, bringing good profits to the owners. But you can make money by creating websites without any programming skills. To do this, just become a 1C-UMI partner and receive a lifetime reward for each attracted client. .
Custom website development is carried out by anyone who is more or less versed in website building - these are people of different status and ages, from high school students to retirees who have decided to diversify their leisure time and earn extra money. The most negative thing is that many, who have only learned the basics, try to teach others. Recommendations from such people can cause significant damage by the very idea itself. It’s not worth talking about the various garbage that litters the Runet. This article is devoted to the main points of the website creation business and brings together the collected information that is available on the Internet. Beginners will be able to understand how and how much they can earn by creating websites.
What determines the amount of earnings?
The main goal of developing a web service is to make a profit from it. Of course, we cannot generalize all sites, but in general this is true. It is important for beginners to know how much money they can get by doing this kind of work. A statistical analysis of the activities of numerous web studios and freelancers shows figures from 5 to 200 thousand rubles, depending on the type of site (the cheapest is a business card, the most expensive is a turnkey online store). And 200 thousand is not the final amount; there are portals and sites whose price is much higher. Earning money from creating custom websites is influenced not only by the technical savvy and creativity of the developer, but also by other factors.
Website development requires at least basic knowledge of the basics of web design, programming languages HTML, CSS and PHP. The most basic thing is to use ready-made platforms. An interesting option is UMI.CMS from Umisoft. It is an intuitive and easy-to-manage CMS with many benefits and features. It’s easier to understand ready-made “engines,” but it’s even better not to get hung up on them, but to learn and develop further.
You can now find any courses and teaching aids on the Internet. The main thing is to choose the best one, which will really bring benefits and not siphon off money. Your assistants will be real user reviews and consultations from web studios. There is no point in advising any specific one; you yourself must be responsible for the correct choice. Gain knowledge, and experience is your best assistant.
Let's get back to how to make money by creating websites. Approximate prices are:
- business card website - 5-7 thousand rubles;
- blog - 6 thousand rubles;
- portfolio - 9-12 thousand rubles;
- landing page - 10-12 thousand rubles;
- online store - 12-20 thousand rubles;
- corporate resource 22-25 thousand rubles.
Registering your business
Everyone decides for themselves whether they need to officially register their business. The procedure has pros and cons. The main advantage of the status of an individual entrepreneur or LLC is the trust of customers. There are a lot of cases of fraud on the Internet; clients are more likely to go to the contractor who is officially responsible for their activities. Disadvantages - you have to pay taxes, do accounting, prepare and submit reports. Without an established client base, it is difficult to bear the financial burden, but attracting good clients without official status is not easy. Weigh the pros and cons, then make a decision. If you have funds for “promotion”, then it is better to register your business according to all the rules.
What is a portfolio? These are examples of work you have completed. Clients will never contact you if you don't have a portfolio, and rightly so. How can you show what you're capable of without any completed projects? You may even have to work for free at first to prepare the base. It is advisable that the sites created be of different directions, so you can demonstrate your abilities more widely. As orders come in, your portfolio will be replenished, and you will no longer have to engage in development for free.
Sample contract and brief
Officially registered web studios must have a sample client agreement, which spells out in detail the responsibilities and rights of the parties - the contractor and the customer. It’s a good idea to make a commercial proposal that should be of interest to potential employers. You can’t sit waiting for the flow of clients - you need to act in all directions, this is the only way to really realize your plan and understand how to make money by creating websites. Monitoring freelance exchanges, sending out offers, searching among friends, direct calls - all these actions will bring results.
The customer and the contractor often have difficulty figuring out what specific product the client wants to see as a result. Neglecting this aspect, as a rule, leads to the fact that improvements and corrections may take longer than the creation of the site. To avoid such troubles, you should draw up a brief - a questionnaire with the help of which the client’s wishes are determined. The brief allows you to protect yourself from subsequent misunderstandings like “this is not what we ordered” and the like.
For insurance, many webmasters prefer to work on an advance payment basis. This is about 50% of the total order cost. Depending on the reputation and the duration of the business relationship, the percentage may fluctuate up or down. When work on the site is completed, it is shown to the customer and only after receiving the remaining amount, all data for ownership and management of the resource is transferred. A popular type of additional income from creating websites is its after-sales service. It includes eliminating errors that arise during operation, filling with information, security control and much more.
Common Mistakes
Web studios that make money by developing websites often make a number of the same mistakes. List of the most typical of them:
How to sell custom websites? This is an ordinary business, albeit somewhat specific, with its own rules of conduct. You can make money on it, but to get a lot, you need experience and a desire to develop.