I had issue with feature "emil will be available for new projects from September 15th 2005." with other people. They said it should go on contact or portfolio page, not the home page.

Point of this feature is to tell prospective client: Look, this boy's very busy. He's working a lot. Other people want him too, which means he's very good in what he does.
Milano | Homepage | 08.20.05 - 7:26 am | #

I'm with you Milano on the idea of being busy can be a good indicator of demand for services and therefore suggest good work, although the home page placement could turn someone who thinks they're in a rush away before digging into the portfolio. A bit of a risk, but if emil's busy, does it really matter?
Frank Patrick | Homepage | 08.20.05 - 11:04 am | #

Oh...just clicked on the "homepage" link in your comment. Is that you?
Frank Patrick | Homepage | 08.20.05 - 11:05 am | #

Yes. I would like that we briefly summarize this issue. What do you think, yes or no?
Milano | Homepage | 08.20.05 - 11:11 am | #

My summary is that talking about when one would be available right up front is a great step for setting reasonable expectations.

That said, if you're available immediately, I might almost downplay it so you don't come off as desperate for work.

If availability opens up a month or two out like it is now, I might consider adding something that says "but if you like what you see in my portfolio, and you don't need my services yesterday, let's discuss your needs and reserve a place in my queue." (Don't forget to set aside a bit of time for these discussions so they don't interfere with your current promises.)

If you find yourself booked for a year, consider hiring or partnering with someone to do the part of the work you like the least.

Home page versus deeper in the site is a not unreasonable point of discussion, as you would like to avoid delayed availability preventing prospects from digging into your portfolio, and coming to the conclusion that you're worth the wait. One way to see if this has an effect might be to set up and A-B test situation, essentially duplicating your site with the availability statement on the home page and elsewhere, and set it up to randomly serve up one or the other, and keep track of whether one approach triggers more leads than the other.

By the way, I like your stuff...if you were a bit closer to New Jersey, we could use a good designer like you where I work. We're growing fast and design is our current bottleneck.
Frank Patrick | Homepage | 08.20.05 - 1:30 pm | #