Design your way

Freelance design is the dream career of many designers and developers because of it offers individuals a lot of flexibility, freedom of choice and task scheduling. Freelancers get to choose the job they have a passion for, place of work, client and at the appropriate times.

Despite the many benefits associated with it, this job is not as easy as many may think. It takes a lot of passion, business proficiency, talent, self drive and exertion to built success from freelancing.

This article will evaluate how to go about building a successful freelancing career (design or otherwise), one that you can make a fairly comfortable living from.

While as a freelancer you enjoy the freedom to choose your own clients, the reality of the trade is that you work for several competing bosses and not just one. Design jobs are available in several subsectors of the design field; you have to initiate communication to get them.

Quite often, you find yourself waking up with little or no job, but in the course of the day, your table is filled with many projects that have colliding time frames to deliver; you end up simultaneously answering endless calls and emails from clients.

If you have a penchant for design jobs combined with the talent and drive to work for yourself, a job as a freelance designer can be the path for you. However, this is a serious lifestyle decision and should only be made after serious reflection.

Where to get work from

Freelance design is a highly competitive field, one that requires you to master the skills of the discipline that you intend to pursue as a specialization. How will you ever be able to land your dream job if you are not sure of what you want to do?

It is important to research and consult widely by visiting renowned freelance sites and existing designers, before setting on a particular field; examples of which include graphic design, branding design, web design, corporate design, advertising and promotion design among many more. Focusing on a single aspect will allow you to be a master of one instead of a jerk of all trades.

Write down what requirements are such as technical skills and years of experience so you can prepare yourself for better. You will be surprised at how much is expected of designers. After that, it is a matter of creating an effective portfolio and finding your first job.

Classic job boards

Dribbble Jobs

Cool Design Jobs

GitHub Jobs

Krop

Behance Jobs

StackOverflow Careers

LinkedIn

Coroflot Jobs

37signals Jobs

SmashingMagazine Jobs

Mightyspring

JavaScript Ninja Jobs

AuthenticJobs

WorkInStartups

Coderwall Jobs

Silicon Milkroundabout

WeWorkRemotely

AngelList

Galleries

DeviantArt

Behance

Dribbble

Meerli

Interesting communities

Juiiicy

Yunojuno

Folyo.me

Scoutzie

Ooomf

OnSite

WeekendHacker

CollabFinder

HireMyFriend

Make them hire you

Self promotion should be your top priority as a freelance designer because you want to maintain a steady flow of work and clients. The greatest asset you must protect is you thought process and clear mind. You might have started small, but with better performance, clients will start flowing in. When you finally get you high level clients, they will be less interested in your visuals, but in what you were thinking when you created the work in your portfolio; so be smart.

Your portfolio will show what you can do; so build a clean and professional portfolio, fitted with your best work. Arrange it in such a way that builds your reputation and tells your success story. Put your best foot forward when preparing your portfolio, so that when you finally present it to a potential client, it is not just a bunch of beautiful pictures, but also the thought behind the variety of jobs.

From your research and consultations, you target to approach potential clients using unique selling points; this is an important consideration when creating a marketable, effective design.

With new clients, take the opportunity to explain your choices that make up your past designs. Why and how did your choices work with your target users? Get the answers to these questions, and you can do that by pulling data from the people you design for the most often.

Other ways to get projects

Your portfolio

You have to demonstrate to the audience your specialty and areas focus to build long standing client relationships. That is why you must post your online portfolio on your web or blog site in order for potential clients to review your work. Design your online portfolio to feature your best works, with some short details explaining every job.

Keep abreast with current developments in your design field, tailor your portfolio to incorporate these trends; in the end your good works will speak for you and you won’t have to sell yourself on your sites.

Most people judge the book by its cover. Take advantage of the many benefits that come with being part of the visually creative design field by telling people about your works. Make sure they know your area of expertise and the quality jobs in your portfolio.

Being a freelance designer does not mean that you are able to do all design jobs; you will hardly get your dream clients. It is important to consistently brand yourself as an expert in a particular field to impress people as a designer. Ensure you have well designed and quality business cards, with your business name, design job title, website address and other contact details. At this point, we assume that already have visuals styles and critical design elements consistently embedded in your resume, portfolio and business cards.

Social media

It is not enough just to showcase your portfolio on your blog and website alone. The social media is the new frontier in marketing as networks like face book, twitter, linked-in and Yelp continue to grow in subscriber numbers. You can use the social media positively to look for new clients. Create a face book fan page for your services and post new works on the page. If you have followers on twitter, let them know of the latest project that you have just finished.

If your existing clients have been impressed by your work, you can use them to gain publicity. Ask them if they can mention you on their newsletter, social media sites or other avenues through which they interact with their customers.

Get clients to recommend you

Generally, the average freelance designer is a person who is always in deep thought about the various design jobs they are working on. A designer is not one to easily chat with other people or visit networking sites just to talk to people. But remember, design jobs do not come knocking on your door; you have to go out and sell yourself.

So make it your mission to convince your clients that you are the best freelancer on the planet. Word of mouth is the strongest and most reliable marketing strategy and satisfied clients will tell all their friends about you and actively seek projects on your behalf.

You have helped others sell their businesses, so why not do it for yourself? Make it your primary goal to please the people who can provide you with a decent living. You have to make most of your clients through referrals; but in doing so, draw stern boundaries and never take abuse; even though sometimes you have to bend over backwards when the situation calls for it.