Dive into the archives.
- 3 Ways a Freelance Web Designer Finds Work
Search for “Freelance Web Designer” and you’ll be handed roughly 1,250,000 search results to sort through. If you happen to be a freelance web designer looking for a job, you’re not going to find a position or work by searching for the term mentioned above. “Freelance Web Designer” will give you portfolios of freelance web designers and businesses offering freelance web design services - not anything that will benefit a freelance web designer looking for work. To find work, you need to be a little smarter.
1. Search for “Freelance Web Design Jobs” using Google. Whilst it mightn’t be obvious to some, searching for this term using Google brings up very useful results. There will most likely be some portfolios and business websites to sift through, but you’ll find quite a few hidden gems that may result in a web design job. I admit, I have found quite a few jobs by using this method and still use it from time to time.
2. Visit freelancing websites.www.oDesk.com
www.Guru.com
www.RentACoder.com
www.CraigsList.com
www.ProgrammerMeetDesigner.com
www.FreelanceUK.com3. Be referable, be friendly, be approachable and be enthusiastic. If you put a link to your portfolio on the sites you design for clients, you’re more likely to be contacted by friends or business partners of that said client with requests for further web work. It also helps if that link points to a great portfolio with examples of what you can do and if you come across as friendly, approachable and enthusiastic in the design and the way you present yourself.
Ashleigh
x x x
- 3 Steps to Freelancing Success
Be professional. Freelancers often assume that they have to be exceptional at what they do in order to get noticed. Whilst being an awesome web designer might make it easier to break into the freelancing world, regardless of your abilty, if you exude professionalism and take pride in your work, people will take notice of you.
It’s not what you can do, but how you do it.
Be confident. As a new freelancer you will have many questions left unanswered. The most prominent unanswered question, and the most important in my opinion, is the simple matter of how much to charge for your work. You can charge a little - or you can charge a lot. In short - charge whatever you want! Whilst charging little might get you a lot of work, it’s likely that you’re worth quite a bit more.
If you are confident in how you lay out the costs of your services to your clients, it’s likely that they’ll pay whatever you ask. Within reason, of course.
Have aspirations. If you’re going to get somewhere in the freelance industry, you’re going to need to have a plan. Whether it’s just some basic goals or a detailed plan of attack, you’re going to get somewhere faster if you have an idea of where you want to be. In my case, I’ve been keeping an eye on Ashley Morgan, a professional blogger and jazz trumpet player. I admit he’s no lord of freelance web design, but the effort he puts into Upstart Blogger and his other projects make me aspire to be better at what I do. Then of course there’s Kwaku, one of my earlier web design heroes.
Remember: Always aspire to be better than you are - even if you’ve already reached and passed your original goal.
Ashleigh
x x x
- Life as a Freelance Web Designer
I reckon the idea of being a Freelance Web Designer appeals to the majority of Web Designers. You choose your own hours, you choose how much you get paid and you choose the projects you take on. I’m not trying to make it sound too good to be true, but that is exactly what my life is like. I work when I want to, I get paid more than I did when I had a desk job and I decide which jobs are worth my time.
I’ve been working as a Freelance Web Designer for six months and I’ve already made the promise to myself never to go back to working behind a desk or for someone else. I don’t have to wake up early in the morning to shower, get dressed and then catch a train or drive to work. I hop out of bed whenever I wake up, check my email, have something to eat, go for a run, shower and then if I feel like it, which is usually, I design a website or two.
