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45 Comments
- dreamache, on 07/09/2009, -2/+19I've been a designer for years and it's how I make a good portion of my money. While it's a nice article, I'm sure it has the potential to scare away aspiring designers because of the amount of points it tries to make -- only a portion of them are a necessity to becoming a successful freelance designer.
In my opinion, here are the absolute essentials..
1. Register a domain name and place on it a reasonable portfolio with a reasonable design.
2. Offer (at least initially) competitive pricing based on the quality of work you're able to provide.
3. Get traffic.
That's it. You don't need a business plan, you don't need to use those time management / finance services, you don't even need a resume (I don't use one) - your work will speak for itself.
Now personally I can offer some additional pieces of advice:
1. Get a credit card processor (paypal is the easiest for most to use / integrate, paypal payments pro preferably), allow potential clients to order right on your website. Just come up with a flat fee you want to charge for something (a banner, logo, etc..), and as long as you can get the traffic, you will end up converting more visitors to customers. - This method has worked awesome for me since I started it at my site in August 2007, since then I've literally received 25-30 logo orders a month.. Most would say that's too much, but it only results in less than 2 hours of work per day for me and I attract a particular niche of clients that can't pay a ton, and I'm able to satisfy near 97%. Remember, there's a budget for every level of skill in design.
2. Get a niche. I spoke on this a little above, but a niche can help you corner a particular market and gain clout in one specific region of design. For instance, I specialize in logo design, I only sell logo design at one site. But I also make available the ability to order webdesign at a different website. The niche concept is seen clearly from the PSD to XHTML sites, or a few of the recently popular banner-design only sites.
3. Work on SEO to build clients. 90% of my new orders come from Google. Not Google Adwords (PPC), but rather the actual free SERPs (search engine result placements, the top 10 spots for a given keyword). Once you're able to rank for a given keyword, you score a very consistent source of traffic daily. I rank for a few design related keywords and I generate around 1,500 unique visitors a day to my site from different tutorials on design. Then on those pages, I advertise my design services. I never have to advertise. I just check my email, and orders come through.
Anyhow, I'm done typing ;) - ilbbaicl, on 07/09/2009, -6/+18Step 1 - Download porn
Step 2 - Create porn website
Step 3 - ???
Step 4 - fap - pathouston22, on 07/09/2009, -3/+10As somebody who runs a freelance business (not web design) on the side, the single most important thing I can recommend are connections. I'm 2 years out of college, and almost all of my clients have been from people I connected with in college, or through friends from college. With no advertising - I'm pulling in decent money on the side. A connection can use your services, or recommend you to others.
And that's just my opinion, from somebody who doesn't know crap about business, but I'm doing ok. - SheehanMay, on 07/09/2009, -3/+9The "give a freebie" method is not mentioned often but it is very effective.
- novakane, on 07/09/2009, -2/+8Step 1 - Use spell checker
- krisrm, on 07/09/2009, -7/+13What if I want to be a web designe*r*? Do I have to use fancy tools like spell-checkers occasionally, too?
- inactive, on 07/09/2009, -0/+5I agree with the flat fee for some projects, I know hourly has always been the standard but people forget many clients want to haggle you down or don't know what they want to spend. By setting a flat fee they know what to expect and it is good for me too because I don't have to watch my hours and can worry more about designing. It also drives away any half-assed clients too, they will know what I charge and if they got a problem with it I don't want to deal with them on the phone anyway.
- debauch, on 07/09/2009, -1/+5the author forgot the one thing you would think would be integral to designing web pages as a profession, which all too many 'professionals' skip. learn to write code. not a day goes by that i don't have to deal with some asshat that got paid to build a site, built it with frontpage/dreamweaver/whatever, then expects me to tell them how to fix everything when stuff goes sideways.
- krisrm, on 07/09/2009, -0/+4I don't see the Profit in that...
- NealKasper, on 07/09/2009, -1/+5r
- inactive, on 07/09/2009, -0/+3Good thing you know it, I am pretty much design only, I loathe anything web although I am pretty good with flash banners. One nice thing about living in the midwest, you can be a a moderately talented web designer and still get work as local businesses and restaurants don't really notice the difference between advanced CSS and basic HTML.
- LordVance, on 07/09/2009, -1/+4I consider anyone who makes $500 or more a month a professional web designer, some of us just work part time while others are able to make it a full time career. Once you start bringing in a steady stream of income (be it primary or supplementary) doing something, you are doing it professionally.
Suck dick for $40 a pop a few times a month to feed your drug habit? Sorry bud, you are a professional ***** sucker - just not a very prolific one. - foofiejnooner, on 07/09/2009, -0/+3step 1: spell check
- BorsKaegel, on 07/09/2009, -6/+9This is probably the most comprehensive guide I have ever come across on freelance design. Bookmarked for my own thorough review!
- joshbeech, on 07/25/2009, -0/+2Step 5 - Profit
- chooochooo, on 07/13/2009, -0/+2very useful article
- eanbowman, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2Well your opinion is joined by mine. It's all about networking.
I've never advertised at all but word-of-mouth has made many jobs for me.
I gave up freelance and have a studio gig now but still do odd jobs on the side because of the people I know. - inactive, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2You're definitely right, as a designer and occasional freelancer on the side myself I find most design businesses and individuals are completely funded by only a few clients, that is why it is good to get out there and meet people.
- SBMentor, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2My advice if you are just starting out would be to skim this article and don't let it scare you... however, make sure you print it out too because it's an awesome blueprint that you can keep referring back to and add to.
- electroniclogic, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Very impressive article. Great info, not loaded with filler junk.
- khfn, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2What the hell is SheehanMay being downvoted for? I've drawn many clients to my base through doing free work for them. You'll say "ohh, that just makes you look unprofessional". I let my work speak for itself to impress them instead of trying to keep an image.
- Matthews255, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2The amount of steps you need to go through to digg a page, why oh why did no one spot that!!!
Fail. And templates is a no. I use a similar structure when coding up a design, but thats as far as "template" goes. If a business has a website that looks like another and the branding looks similar, soliciters get involved! - tgc1, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2I agree about flat rates as well. I'm moving away from hourly as clients are most often thrown off by the numbers. They don't know why it takes you x many hours to do x job. They only know it should cost next to nothing. So when you talk about a job, and you give it a price it seems more consistent.
- eanbowman, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2I don't think MariamWilliams works for Smashing Magazine. Just sayin'. :P
- dreamache, on 07/09/2009, -0/+2Indeed, I don't like dealing with clients much. That's why after they order from my site(s), they receive a login, and they fill out a form that helps me design whatever they want. Then based on how many pending projects I have going, they understand how many days delay it will take in order to receive their order.
...it requires knowing how to code for that sort of thing though. - eanbowman, on 07/09/2009, -0/+1How do you even build a portfolio without having some good names to tie to it?
I can just imagine the reaction now, "Oh, I see here you have 50 templates. Ever done any work for clients?"
Besides, most job postings might give you the indication - clients, like employers, want someone with experience. - x713, on 07/09/2009, -0/+1Also projectpier is a great open source project management software that you can install on your own server. I really do not like the idea of having client information on other people's servers.
- N01SE, on 07/09/2009, -2/+3Also prepare to be cheap. Most clients coming to you as a freelancer will not be expecting to go over $4000 for an entire website, and $1000 for a design. And I'm not talking about static websites, I mean websites with database-driven content, social networking, blogging, etc. that take at least a month of development. They usually want the state-of-the-art for around $3000-$4000.
With that in mind, If you're a freelancer, whether it be graphic design or web development, it's best to build an infrastructure to rapidly deliver this stuff, so tons of templates if you're a designer and a custom library and framework if you're a developer. The more quality you can deliver within a small budget, the better word-of-mouth you'll get from your client. - TBBucs, on 07/09/2009, -5/+6I was pleasantly surprised at the depth and accuracy of this article. Good info.
- KSUdesigner, on 07/09/2009, -1/+2"Also prepare to be cheap."
I absolutely disagree with this. Charge what you feel your services are worth, nothing more and nothing less. If someone is not willing to pay your rates then odds are they aren't going to be a good client to work with anyway. Most people know that you get what you pay for, and if they want quality they will pay more for it.
Also, "so tons of templates if you're a designer."
No, a designer should not be using templates in any way, shape or form. Every client is unique and every design should be created specifically for that client. There is no way you can know ahead of time what a client may need, so leave the templates to the amateurs and only begin designing for your client after you have done the proper research. This is the kind of thing that sets the real professional designers apart from the amateurs who just think they are designers. You might be able to deliver more projects by using templated designs, but you will receive better reviews and more referrals from your clients if your designs are specifically tailored to their needs. - inactive, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1No don't! please~
- SBMentor, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1Completely disagree too. I've had people pay over $800 just for a logo. In my experience it depends whether you are coming to the client as a 'provider' or the 'expert' that is going to help them build a site (or brand or whatever) that will help them get more sales.
If you are just a provider you can get shopped around town for prices. If you get to the client before they've actually started looking for a site you can help them on the process to getting the site done properly and for the right reasons. I've found that this is where the money is.
It's worth investigating 'buying cycles' that clients go through... - KSUdesigner, on 07/09/2009, -0/+1"Simply turning away clients because they can't afford it means your losing money"
And spending a bunch of time on a client who has no budget means I'm also losing money. I'd rather have 5 or 6 clients with decent budgets than have 15 or 20 with small budgets. No matter how much you try to use "templates" (I still disagree with you on that subject), you are going to end up spending a lot of time working with those clients, and if they have a small budget it's just not worth it to me. Clients with small budgets tend to be the ones who drag out the project for far too long and are constantly making changes. It's fine to deal with clients like this once in a while when you really need the cash, but I wouldn't make them my regular customer base.
Of course there is a market for low-budget work, somebody has to do it, but as a designer with a formal design education I prefer to stick with highly customized, large budget work. I didn't rack up 40 grand in tuition loans just so I could sit at home and crank out templates all day for $10 an hour. It may be difficult to get big budget clients, but once you have them they usually keep coming back for more and more work, which more than makes up for turning away the clients with low budgets. - IamNomad, on 07/15/2009, -0/+1That method doesn't work very well for whores. what makes you think it will for other services ?
- phpnetpro, on 10/05/2009, -0/+0Excellent information. I’ve been working as a freelancer full time recently and got started with this website, http://www.fireboss.net
They give some similar information compared with what is found here but they also have some excellent ideas that I haven’t seen anywhere else. They also have an excellent listing of freelance websites where you can find a lot of work. I prefer using those websites to find new clients because there are so many different jobs to choose from. If you are a freelancer trying to get more clients, definitely take a look through this site’s freelance article. - Jektal, on 07/09/2009, -1/+1The Roadmap to Becoming a Professional Web Designer:
1. Understand field lengths and preview your content before uploading. - bandarushiva, on 07/19/2009, -0/+0I agree.Good Tips
- N01SE, on 07/09/2009, -1/+1templated elements do not necessarily have to be graphics, every client represents some market you can template an IA for. You will notice there are lots of design elements you repeat in your work as well. Using a grid system is a form of templating. You're ultimately the expert in UX, not the client.
Simply turning away clients because they can't afford it means your losing money, so it is worth it to have systems in place to support said clients, there are tons of very high quality design templates, there is no correlation between a template and poor design quality. This doesn't mean you don't ever do very custom work, you simply save that for those who have the budget. - x713, on 07/09/2009, -2/+1Why would anyone bury me for offering open source alternatives to what was offered on the article that you can install on your own server? Whatever.
- Calamier, on 07/09/2009, -4/+2Solid, Solid Article.
- inactive, on 07/09/2009, -4/+2"Now with more gaylord."
- Elranzer, on 07/09/2009, -5/+3Yep. Everyone on Digg is a "professional" web designer.
- rm249, on 07/09/2009, -6/+3Very good article. Another awesome client/project management tool that this article did not mention is OpenGoo - http://www.opengoo.com/ (its free and open source - gotta love that) I have been using it for a few months now and its great for keeping your different projects organized.
- x713, on 07/09/2009, -6/+2A great invoicing tool is BambooInvoice. Open source and and you install it on your own server. Its great when you like managing all your things on your own.
- Turkman182, on 07/09/2009, -7/+3Agreed!
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