The world of freelancing has erupted over the last decade with more quality contractors taking their work full-time to the freelance market. The quality of the average web designer has not increased though as there are plenty of people that call themselves a professional web designer after taking a 2 to 6-week course. All designers understand that working in design is about constantly evolving as well as learning new coding languages as well as tips to handle projects. Growing a client base as a freelancer is extremely important in being able to generate enough income to live a comfortable life.
The following are tips to start your freelance web design career as well as tips to help you succeed.
Do Not Quit Your Job Immediately To Start Freelancing
Whether you are a great designer or have expertise in vector animation or HTML5 you should not immediately quit your full-time job to start freelancing. Doing both for as long as possible will allow you to save quite a bit of money and does not force you to work with a client that is unreasonable simply to pay your bills. A nice nest egg can allow a person to slowly build up their client base until they are forced to make the decision to start their freelance career full-time. You might find that you do not like freelancing as you will have to hustle and compete to be hired for projects.
Use Freelancer Platforms Like Upwork
There are plenty of freelancer platforms that differ in quality as well as the prices you can receive for a specific project. These platforms help connect freelancers and designers while helping guarantee that work is delivered and a freelancer is paid. There are milestones that can be set up that will ensure that you will be paid for your time rather than finishing a project only to have the client refuse to pay. This can be a great place to find long-term clients which can help stabilize how much money you earn monthly from freelancing.
You Can Drop Nightmare Clients And You Should
The best part about freelancing is that you get to choose the clients that you continue to work with. At a marketing agency you might be stuck working with nightmare clients as the company will not drop them. These types of clients change the scope of a project then expect time spent not to be billed. Nightmare clients also want you to hit deadlines but are not as prompt as they expect you to be when it comes time to pay. Drop these clients as there are plenty of businesses that need web design help that will value the quality work of a freelancer and treat them with respect.
Referrals Can Be Worth Their Weight In Gold
Referrals are going to be a great way to attain clients that are sure to treat you with respect. People that ask for a recommendation of a designer are more likely to treat you well due to not wanting to ruin their relationship with a professional contact. Asking current clients if they know of anyone that needs design work can result in sales nearly immediately. Take time to set up a program that will discount your services for a month or two for any referrals current clients send over that result in a contract signed.
As you can see it will be a process to start your full-time web design freelancing career. Use the above tips to help this transition go well and you can succeed working for yourself for the first time!