Making a Portable Income as a Web Designer
Web design can be one of the best portable income sources available. Whereever you go, people need websites to promote their businesses, organizations and home based enterprises.
One caveat; the web design is a very competitive industry. Anyone with a personal computer and a copy of Dreamweaver they ripped off on Kazaa seems to think they're a professional web designer. They have no design degree, no experience in design, no marketing expertise, no coding experience, little or no investment in time or money... nothing to bring to the marketplace. Many of these competitors (if you can call them that) will be working from home, supported by parents or a spouse, so they don't have to charge enough to actually make a living from the work they do. I've seen many websites offering ten to twenty page websites for under $200.00. Your prospective clients will unfortunately have been exposed to these ridiculous give-away prices and will wonder why you have the audacity to charge professional rates.
I've been developing websites for over eleven years and have discovered that web design is like any other industry. To make a good living from it you have to be different. Offer something the rookies can't.
Some ways to stand out:
- Become an internet marketing expert. Buy the best information, learn everything you possibly can and offer consulting services with your design work. Back your services with a money back guarantee that they will receive a return on investment and savvy business people will choose you over the bargain designers. (Bargain hunters make lousy clients anyway.)
- Become an SEO. Search engine optimization is changing. Social networking and inbound link building have become the new SEO, instead of relying on basic on-page optimization. If you enjoy networking online, and can write articles, you can make a great income driving traffic to your clients' websites. Unlike design, you don't need a fast 'power user' computer for SEO. I've offered guaranteed results for my SEO services with a monthly PayPal subscription and it's provided a very dependable income. If you keep your SEO clients happy you don't have to keep selling every month to stay busy.
- Pursue multimedia web design. We've been offering interactive Flash design, with ActionScript/XML/PHP/MySQL application development for ten years. We include video, interactive presentations, sexy interfaces and engaging content that 80% of the web industry can't deliver. It gives us an edge and enables us to charge professional rates. The entry investment will be higher. You need a fast computer with lots of RAM and RAID hard drive storage for Flash and video. The software is pricey as are the good training manuals. A dual head computer, with one monitor for Flash visuals and the other for ActionScript code, or for extending your video timeline, is the ideal configuration.
Most web designers invest very little time or money and then get out very quickly because they aren't making any money. The failure rate is extremely high for the uncommitted. When I decided I wanted to give it a go I committed myself to a minimum of five years. I recommend learning basic web design skills and then choosing a specialty. For requests of services outside your specialty, outsource. You can make a tidy profit marking up outsourced labor.
I welcome your questions and the comments and posts of other web designers who've been at this for quite a while.
