Being a freelance web designer offers an immense amount of freedom to live anywhere with internet in the world while earning a decent living. The truth is that many freelancers are great designers but not as great at business management as many lack experiences in this area. Mistakes can be made that truly hurt the business of a freelancer that are usually reasonably easy fixes. Taking a proactive approach at identifying problem areas of the business can clarify where a designer needs to improve. The following are mistakes that freelance web designs can make that are impacting their business negatively.
No Portfolio/Personal Website Readily Available
Not having a portfolio or website to showcase your work readily available will make it difficult to apply for projects. Clients always want to see completed projects and rather than send over large files, a website with your personal portfolio is far more efficient. This also gives the client the ability to look back at your work when thinking about hiring you for a project when comparing skills before making a final decision. With your design expertise this website needs to be great as this can also be an added element to your design portfolio.
Lack Of Personalization When Completing Projects
Adding something like vector animation to a web page can help a design stand out from others. There are going to be clients that simply want a generic design as they do not believe a great website will improve their business. The goal is always to give the client what they want so keep this in mind. The more flexible clients are the ones where you can really start to get creative in what is being designed. Many companies outsource due to not having a designer so your creative expertise can be a huge help.
Working With Difficult Clients Yet Charging The Same As For Easy Clients
There are going to be problem clients that need to be charged more than those clients that are a dream to work with. This is nothing personal but designers spend more time on those clients that change the scope of projects constantly or are a nightmare to communicate with. Setting pricing and not being afraid to tell a client that the price increased due to work already done when they changed what they wanted completely. Writing out pricing for milestones achieved during a project can help avoid client conflict. A designer must understand that there are clients that need to be dropped and never contacted again. Unfortunately, there are companies that try to take advantage of freelancers with the thought they will do anything desired due to needing the work.
Lack Of An Office Or A Quiet Place To Knock Out Large Amounts Of Work
The freelance web designer has a sweet gig but they are only paid when doing work. Being able to knock out 50 percent more work per day will result in earning a significant amount more. This is the beauty and stressful part of freelancing as you can make double what a regular designer makes with the right amount of hard work. A traditional company designer can have a full schedule or light schedule and with both they will be paid the same. Setting up an office is imperative as there will be times where large amounts of design and code need to be written without distraction.
As you can see a freelance web designer has to manage their business efficiently as this will just improve overall profitability at the end of the year. Take a close look at your freelance web design business to see if you can start improving it overall immediately.
