How To Become a Successful Freelance Web Designer
A lot of successful web designers find it way better to work for themselves. I am sure you will agree that having your own web design business can bring plenty of benefits. But you also need to know that working as a freelancer is in certain aspects tougher than working in a company. Yes, you are your own boss and it is way more challenging, but you do not have a fixed income and you may easily end up with no clients, no work to do and, ultimately, with no money.
The good news?
Yes, there is good news. And it is that you can do certain things to avoid getting into that situation.
Find a niche
Every great designers specializes in a certain niche where he is good at. If you want to become a successful freelancer, you also need to find a niche for yourself. This is a great idea as you can put all your energy into one area of your work and become a real expert in it. When you take various projects in different niches, there is no way you can become great at all of them
How to find your niche?
First of all, you need to think of what you are good at. If you have no idea which niche would best suit your skills, start by looking at your previous experience. Examine your best ones and build on them.
What are some good and profitable niches?
Do not forget also that some web design niches tend to be way more profitable than others. Nowadays two of the most popular trends are UI design and landing page design. Companies are willing to pay thousands of dollars for user-friendly websites that sell their products.
You can find your niche in tons of different aspects of web design. You can even specialize in designing websites using Oxxy.
In fact, the only way to know if a niche is profitable, is to consider whether there is demand for it. If there is, you are good to go.
Offer what customers want
One harsh truth:
Your design work must be totally focused on what your clients want and not what you want. That means that when you work on a project, you need to do it the way the client wants it and not the way you think it will be best.
This is an aspect of the freelance web designer’s job that many newbie freelancers do not understand and then end up with a lot of trouble on their head.
Why is that?
One simple truth you need to know about human nature is that we seldom let others change our mind. Every person has its own opinion and we should respect it. That goes for the web design work too.
If you start your own freelance design business, you will often think that there is a better way to do things. And sometimes you will be right, but sometimes you will be wrong. But that does not matter at all.
In fact, what matters most is who pays.
In most cases doing what you want and not what your client wants, will end up in you doing your work twice. Smart freelance web designers do not make such mistakes. They tell clients the best way to do something, but if the clients has its own opinion – that is what they follow.
Establish good customer communication
Good customer communication means not only treating your customers well, but also establishing a way for both sides to understand each other’s needs.
By doing so you ensure that business will go as smooth as possible and certain misunderstandings resulting from bad communication will be avoided.
But how to establish good communication with customers? In fact, there is no strict formula to follow, but there is one simple truth you need to understand:
Always be willing to ask and answer questions. That is the only way to be sure that all aspects of your project are covered.
As a freelance designer, when communicate with your customers, you need to know some really important rules:
Do not interrupt the other person
Listen to the other side actively, do not just pretend you are doing so
Do not spare any details
Remember that your customer may not have technical background
Be honest
Always show gratitude and kindness
And, finally, remember one thing:
There is no way to keep all your customers happy. No matter how much effort you put in communicating with clients, at some point there will be somebody unsatisfied.
Set yourself up for success with the best portfolio
We will need a whole new article, if we want to point every reason why a good portfolio is essential for the success of a freelance designer. But that is not the point we are trying to make. Everybody (hopefully) understand the importance of this.
What we want to point out is that you not only need a good portfolio, but you need a great one.
Some characteristics of impressive portfolios:
Excellent portfolios communicate clearly with visitors
Your portfolio should tell exactly what you offer to your potential clients. The best way is to create a special website to serve as a portfolio. There you should showcase your previous work in an organized manner, so that your visitors can instantly see what you are good at.
A lot of freelance designers like also to include their prices. If you decide to do so, make sure that you include some details about how, when and what you charge. One thing that upsets customers and will most certainly discourage them from working with you is the lack of information about how you work.
Excellent portfolios are creative
Including examples of previous work and pricing information is not enough as just that will not make you stand out from the crowd. What really makes you different is creativity. When preparing your online portfolio try to be as creative and as intuitive as possible.
That may sound easy, but as designers tend to be one of the most creative professionals in the web industry, being more creative than the others is tough.
But creativity can be achieved in many ways. You just need to think of your portfolio as one of your best projects and the key to your portfolio. Do not assume that your portfolio is just a way to show your previous work. Your potential customers will be influenced not only by what you have already created, but also by how you present that to them.
That means that your portfolio should not only be a website with pictures and text about you and your project, but an excellently crafted and visually stunning site.
Excellent portfolios include a call-to-action
You should look at your portfolio as an important marketing effort. And as such what it really needs is a call-to-action. A call-to-action can be an image, button or piece of texts that provokes a certain action from your visitors. That action can be whatever you might think – visiting a certain page, downloading an ebook, making a purchase, etc.
Your design portfolio must funnel your visitors to a certain page where they can contact you via email, contact form or whatever way you prefer.
And one final advice for your portfolio:
If you want it to be excellent, you must build it on the right platform. Oxxy Website Builder provides the perfect opportunity for designers to enjoy a Photoshop-like experience and craft a beautiful portfolio
Finish your projects the right way
Another important aspect of the freelance web designer’s work is how he finishes the project. Make sure that you let your client do at least one free revision of the project, test it when it’s ready and give you feedback.
Providing a free revision and testing
We have already covered that in our article – your clients will not be ever satisfied with what you have done. That is why you need to provide at least one free revision of your work. It is a really bad practice, if after you finish a project, you charge your client for every change he wants. Make at least the first one free and you will make yourself stand out as a real professional.
Final feedback
Do not be afraid of feedback. If it is constructive it can only help you improve your future work. The right way to do it is to create a list of question for your clients to answer. It should include questions about the way you handle work, what problems your customers encounter while working with you, do they think something could be improved and whatever else you think that might be useful.
After you receive each feedback it is important to take your time an analyze it. You will be amazed how many good ideas you can encounter.
To sum it up, starting a freelance web design business is tough. You get out of the comfort zone of a stable job with fixed income and start an adventure where nothing is sure.
