If you are good at coding and have a flair for creating websites, you have a great skill that few Americans possess. With more and more people starting websites and blogs who have little knowledge of designing a website, web designers are in demand. If you can prove yourself to a few customers, you will likely soon have more business than you can handle thanks to word of mouth referrals.
What You Need to Start
There are some basic requirements for a web designer. You should have a working knowledge of HML, CSS and Javascript. Knowing PHP is an extra bonus. You should also be familiar with the platforms you design for. In addition, you should have a graphics program such as Photoshop or Illustrator. Of course, you must also possess basic design concepts like color, texture, space and balance.
Most designers are better at coding or better at the graphics, but you must be good at both. It is okay to be stronger in one area than the other as long as you have competency in both.
Getting Clients in the Beginning
When you are just getting started, you may want to do one or two web design projects for free simply so you can build a portfolio to show potential clients. You could volunteer to revamp an existing website for a business you frequent or a local charity, or you may have friends or family who run a website or blog and would be open to a free web redesign.
Likely, after you have done your first few projects, you can begin to charge. Word-of-mouth referrals will likely fuel your business, but you can also find online places to advertise such as Bloggers Classifieds.
How Much to Charge
How much to charge depends on your skill and expertise. A ball park low end range is about $50 per hour, though many web designers charge per project such as $600 for a small blog redesign. As your samples for your portfolio increase and you get more high profile clients, you can begin to charge more.
If you charge $600 for an 8 hour project, you will easily make over a grand a month with just two projects and roughly 16 hours of work. (Of course, that assumes that you have no glitches in coding or design and everything runs smoothly.)
How to Grow Your Business
If you are interested in growing your business and increasing your skills without stretching yourself too thin, Andrea Whitmer, a web designer and owner of Nuts and Bolts Media, recommends specializing instead of trying to be able to do everything for everyone. She specializes in designs for WordPress and prefers not to work on other platforms.
If you have the skills and interest to being a web designer, you will likely be able to make a grand per month or more, depending on how much you charge and what clients you take on. Web designers are in demand; now is a perfect time to design on the side.
This is a post from Melissa at Mom’s Plans.
