With more businesses embracing online marketing, the World Wide Web has become a thriving market place where you can turn your creativity into cold cash and make money as a web designer.
No, it’s not a joke! Over the years, web design has provided flexibility and limitless opportunities that’s attracted millions of web designers who are already cashing out on this gold mine.
Outside the fact that thousands of aspiring web designers like you are already cashing in on this latest gold mine, one thing makes web development stand out – the flexibility and limitless opportunities it offers both newbies and oldies.
As a web designer, you can start out on your own terms, break boundaries from the comfort of your home, establish your brand and build websites for businesses around the world.
And yes, if you’ve ever wondered how to do all of this and break into a career in web design then this post is for you as you’re going to learn the very secret strategies that will transform your design skills into a lucrative venture in the following paragraphs…
Create a Plan
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One of the primary steps to make money as a web designer is to sort out your goals, identify the key niche you want to function in as a web designer and then get your plan sorted.
So, before launching out, you want to find out the key outcomes you plan to evolve as well as all the major goals that matter to your and things you plan to achieve with your career as a web designer.
Find out, are you planning to do this for the long haul or is it just a temporary career switch to get by for the main time? If it turns out to be something you want to do for a long time, find out both your long and short term goals.
You don’t have to get things feeling really hard for you at this stage. Focus on identifying your major purpose, what you plan to achieve and the actual steps you might want to take in order to achieve those things.
Doing this gets things sorted out so much so that things now becomes a bit more real, clearer and achievable for you.
Get Trained
To become a web designer, you have to get trained with all the right web design and programming skills. Supposing you are yet to have these skills, this is the time for you to settle in and get some training.
There are different kinds of web developers. From UI & UX Web or front end, back end, full stack and WordPress website designers, you have a potpourri of options to choose from.
Take out time to identify your key learning outcomes based on each of these options, match this with your goals.
Based on your preferred choices, you may have to spend a longer duration to learn the skill and get a certification. For some too, you might spend just a fewer months to learn.
Find what works for you based on your goals and start learning. You can sign up for our Web Design certification Course Here to get started.
PS: to actually make money as a web designer and on time, it is very important you choose a web design option that works with your own goals.
Choose your Client
In this age and time where more businesses and even individuals are adopting digital measures to grow their income, there are lots of options to get new clients for your business as a brand.
But one thing you have to keep in mind is that planning to make money as a web designer will demand that you take out steps to intentionally choose your clients. Again, this has to be based on your goals.
For example, from the get go, this is where you’ll decide whether you plan to work with B2B or B2C clients. On finding this, go further to identify the key things that matter to this audience like their pain points, the solutios they’d want from you and how they will want you to get these across to them.
As soon as you’re able to sort this out, your next step is to get to find ways to evolve your business to appeal to this kind of clientele.
PS: While choosing your clients, pay attention to your skills, experience and overall your expected outcomes. These are the key things that will shape your brand as your business kicks off.
Create a Brand
Whether you’re choosing to start out as a freelancer, web agency or contractor, branding is one of the most crucial aspects of a business set up that can make or break it.
So, if you plan to make money as a web designer, pay attention to creating, building and evolving the kind of brand that will house your business, exactly as it should.
For example, depending on your target audience, there are certain key elements of branding you must pay attention to. This includes brand name, logo, brand colors etc.
Since you already know your audience, the thing that matters to them, what solutions they expect from you and how they respond to these, it’s now time you use that knowledge to create a brand that will consistently appeal to these audiences.
Doing this is one of the major steps that can set you apart from the competition. Regardless of whether you’re just starting out today or twenty years ago, be laser focus on creating a brand that meets the needs of your audience.
PS: Brand creation also includes building your own website and getting a space on popular social media platforms used by your target audience.
Create a Portfolio
As a beginner, to actually attract clients and make money as a web designer, you need a portfolio of work, to showcase your level of experience and skills.
Considering that you’re just starting out, without a lot of other jobs, one of the best steps you can take to fix this is to buy a domain and web hosting account then build your own website on it.
This is one of the first ports of call any potential client will want to come to. And of course you can’t be a web designer without owning a website. So, start with getting yourself a website to display your portfolio.
Furthermore, since you may not have a good number of jobs to showcase on your website on the first few weeks, you can start with creating your own projects and showcasing them as part of your portfolio.
Remember, what every client wants to see is a demonstration of your own skills. So, go ahead, get a domain name and web hosting account and then create different projects, based on your target niche then showcase these on your website.
Alongside this, to get some real jobs, you can target the low hanging fruits in your chosen niche, to get a hang of the market.
Promote your Web Design Business
It is not enough to aspire to make money as a web designer, beyond your aspirations, there’s a lot of competition in the industry so at certain intervals; you have to take some steps to get ahead of your competitors.
One of these steps will include making actual efforts to promote and market your business to clients and others across the web and offline.
There are many ways to promote your business online, including using organic and paid marketing strategies.
If you’re running your business on a tight budget, you can start with using organic marketing strategies to promote your business. This would include engaging in strategies like content marketing, storytelling, social media marketing etc.
For the paid marketing options, you can use paid ads like search ads on Google or Bing, Social Media ads depending on your choice platforms, as well as sponsored posts and banner ads on other popular websites.
When implemented strategically and in the right way, these promotional activities can drive targeted customers and improved profit for your business.
PS: Before choosing a paid marketing option, be sure to go for an option that’ll actually reach across to your target audience as well as deliver on your key expected outcomes.
Expand your Audience Base
Beyond marketing and promoting your business on social media and your website, there are other options you can use to expand your audience and increase your chances to make money as a web designer.
For example, outside your other promotional strategies, you can still join other job posting platforms and online market places like Fiverr, Freelancer etc.
Although you may not necessarily have to do this for the long haul but joining these platform in your beginner days can provide you with even more opportunities to sell your services and get more job offers.
Apart from these, there are communities for web designers on different social media platforms from LinkedIn to Facebook and Telegram among others.
Find ways to join these communities, network, collaborate and find ways to expand your horizon using value driven approaches.
Final Words
With a continuous increase in demand for websites, there are a lot of opportunities to make money as a web designer but in return for whatever you’re making, you’re going to put in a lot of work and effort.
In addition to that, you’re going to find unique ways to make your brand stand out by creating a unique value with every job you deliver as well as building robust a relationship with your clients at all levels.
Furthermore, you’re going to have to keep yourself open to learning, relearning and even failing sometimes.
Most importantly, allow yourself time to grow and evolve into that web designer that clients will always want to get on their projects by signing up for our web design training here where we’ll mentor and groom you into becoming a highly sought after web designer.
It’s your turn now! What are some of your challenges when it comes to becoming a web designer? Drop your comments below.
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