Whether you’re looking for a way to supplement your current income, or are looking for a new full time opportunity, you’ve probably considered freelancing. While freelancing options range from writing and editing to consulting, if you have web design skills, they may be in high demand.
Is freelance web designing right for you? Should you consider it on a deeper level than a passing thought here and there? Quite possibly. There are many benefits to freelancing that make it a viable career opportunity. Check out a few of them below.
Work on the Go
Many office positions promise the ability to work from home or remotely. However, many are accompanied by mandatory meetings, obligatory in-office hours and other requirements. Freelancing is one of the only career opportunities that can be 100% remote – should you choose to make it that way. Whether you want to work while traveling the country, or find the comfort of your own home office the most appealing, as long as you have an Internet connection, freelance web design work travels with you.
Control Your Own Income
Generally speaking, when agreeing to work for a company, you are assigned a salary or hourly pay rate. You may be able to negotiate within some limits, but, for the most part, you do not decide your own pay grade.
While in certain contracted freelance design positions the pay is already set for you, for the most part, you control your income. By taking the time to look at what the going rate is for freelance web design work in your area, you can set your own rate – by hour or project – and make as little or as much as you desire.
Set Your Own Hours
Whether you have kids at home or work better at midnight than during the day, being able to control when you complete your work is one of the major benefits that freelancing has to offer. It can be harder to find work, since you are on your own, but being able to work on your own time is generally worth the effort.
Decide on Your Own Projects
Another big benefit of freelancing? The ability to say no. When working for a company in a full-time position, when work is assigned, it’s your responsibility to complete the task. However, in the freelancing realm, control is in your hands. If a project is not up your alley, or of interest to you, you maintain the right to decline it. While this should not become a regular habit – you should work hard to maintain solid relationships with each client – the control is yours and yours alone.
Decide What You Learn and When
When working for a web design firm, you have little control over the programs or coding you not only learn, but use regularly. There are usually steps to follow to complete each project, whether they make sense or not.
If you are a freelance web designer, you have the ability to use the skills and tools that you choose for each project. If there are certifications that could help you along the way, you can take them on your own. If PHP may work better for one project than other options, that’s your decision. Not only does this allow for long term growth and development, it ensures that each project you complete can meet its full potential, leading to satisfied customers and opportunities for growth.
Earn Money in College
Many graphic design and art students want to get paid for their work, but don’t have the time to devote to a full-time (or maybe even to a part-time) job at a design firm while they are in school. With freelance design, talented college students can earn money while they finish getting their degrees.
Freelance design is a great employment opportunity for college students because you can work on the weekends or over college breaks. Since you aren’t forced to commit to any single design project, your design work will be easily manageable with you classes and homework schedule.
Work with Your Attention Span
When you work at a design firm, you’re likely going to be in the office for eight or more hours a day. However, not everyone has attention spans suited to these hours. Some people work better in many short bursts throughout the day, and some people like to stay up all night on a 24-hour caffeine binge and get the job done.
As a freelance designer, you can work with your attention span, rather than against it. You’ll likely produce higher-quality design work this way, since you’ll feel engaged and attentive to the project at hand.
The list of freelance benefits could go on – free parking, no dress code, tax breaks for expenses and travel, no boss, and so forth – but, the enjoyment and fulfillment that comes from taking pride in what you’re able to accomplish tops them all. Freelancing is a viable career option that should be seriously considered by anyone interested in web design. The options are limitless.
FrontPage Image:Graphic designer using tablet via Shutterstock
In Post Image:People with laptop via Shutterstock
In Post Image: Retro alarm clock via Shutterstock
In Post Image:Rolling money, ballpoint pen and calculator via Shutterstock
