A brand-new project: what to do first

Yesterday was one of those happy days in which an envelope arrived in the mailbox with a signed contract for web development, and a big deposit check. These people (an architectural firm) first contacted me in early October 2006, so it's taken about four months to work out way through the preliminaries.

But now I have a big new project, and I need to get started. This is always slightly intimidating to me, but there are a few mundane things that need to be done, and going down this list always helps me to get on track.

What To Do First

1. Deposit the check. :-)
2. Sign the contract myself and send a copy to my client
3. Create a folder on my hard drive for the new project. Each of my web site project folders has a "assets" directory, within which are folders for "documents", "content", "graphics", "pngs", "archive", and "notes". I keep this stuff within the "site" folder, so that it gets uploaded to the server as a backup. From the "potential clients" folder, move the last 4 months worth of documents into these new folders.
   
4. Create a paper folder for the project (in the color designated for "active projects"), and from the "potential client" folder, move the last 4 months worth of documents into it.
5. Create a big label for this project for my Mighty Bulletin Board (see my article "Client Juggling" for more about the Mighty Bulletin Board).
6. Read over all notes and information and formulate a basic plan for producing the web site.
7. Phone or email the client with a "here's what we need to do first" message.

All pretty mundane stuff, but in my business, it all has to be done by me, and it helps get me ready to approach a brand-new project.